New jump of 2% in oil – Declining gas

LAST UPDATE 14:00

Oil prices are on a steady uptrend in the $ 110 area for the third day in a row as investors’ attention continues to focus on supply level concerns, ignoring fears of stock markets for a global recession.

In particular, Brent July futures are trading at $ 2.2%, or $ 2.5, at $ 113.4 a barrel.

Similarly, the American WTI sees its own June contract rising by also 2.2% or $ 2.4 and trades at $ 110.7 a barrel.

On a weekly basis, both contracts are moving for a second consecutive five-day uptrend, with prices boosting significantly following the Commission’s proposal to impose a European embargo on Russian crude imports.

In the latest development, the European Union announced today that it has proposed a revision of the embargo, which would give Hungary and Slovakia another year until the end of 2024 to comply with the sanctions.

According to Bloomberg sources, the Czech Republic will also receive an exemption by June 2024, while all other member states will phase out their imports by the end of this year, as originally proposed.

The EU ambassadors will meet this morning to discuss the revised proposals and the tough negotiations are expected to last all day.

“There are concerns about global growth and what it might mean for oil demand, but the forthcoming EU embargo offsets them for now, so the downturns will be reduced. price pressures “.

On the other hand, the member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with their partners (OPEC +) yesterday agreed to another extremely mild increase in production in June, again ignoring calls from Western countries for faster growth.

In particular, the production of the countries of the energy alliance will increase in June by 432,000 barrels per day, as foreseen in the plan that has been prepared for the post-pandemic era.

At the same time, a U.S. Senate committee is pushing for a bill that would hold OPEC + legally liable for colluding on rising oil prices, paving the way for legal action against the alliance.

Congress has not been able to gather the necessary majority for a bill for twenty years, but US lawmakers are now worried about the impact of rising inflation combined with high gasoline prices.

Declining momentum for gas

At the same time, European gas prices show declining trends after three consecutive uptrends.

Specifically, the price of the June contract for natural gas in Amsterdam (TTF) moves with losses of 2.6% and stands at 103.7 euros per megawatt hour.

Germany is rapidly building floating LNG storage tanks in an attempt to break free from Russian gas imports, but wind energy production has declined this week, according to European Energy Exchange data.

In addition, the forthcoming EU embargo on Russian oil may increase demand for gas and coal.