US President Donald Trump may be strengthening his tactics in an effort to end the war in Ukraine, sanctions that truly bite Russian oil production.
Today he announced sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies after a planned meeting with Putin was called off. Trump said he “felt it was time” for the sanctions, noting he “waited a long time” to resorting to them. The US Treasury warned it could take further steps.
The targets are Lukoil and Rosneft and their majority-owned subsidiaries but it’s not exactly clear how they will be implemented and if there will be secondary sanctions on companies that buy from them, banks or intermediaries. For now, the oil market is taking a constructive view and WTI crude rose $1.54 to $60.04 on top of a rally in US trading that started at $57.50, likely on a leak of the sanctions news.
WTI daily chart:
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.