WTI CRUDE: Oil traded around $109 per barrel on Friday and were on track for their biggest weekly drop since November, as investors weighed escalating bans on Russian oil against efforts to bring more supply to the market from other major producers.
Having touched a 14-year high of $130.5 earlier this week in anticipation of Russian oil embargoes, crude prices reversed dramatically on indications that Europe would not join its allies in banning Russian oil and on potential supply additions from Iran, Venezuela and the UAE.
Meanwhile, analysts warned that other members of OPEC+ will unlikely be able to fill the supply gaps from the oil ban against Russia, which is the second largest crude exporter and supplies about 3 million barrels a day of crude to Europe’s OECD countries. Geopolitical uncertainties also kept markets on edge after the first round of Russia-Ukraine talks failed.
