Oil rises after drop in Russian exports and uncertainty in the Red Sea — EnergyWatch

Oil prices are rising on Monday, supported by lower exports from Russia and attacks on ships in the Red Sea, raising concerns about oil supply disruptions, according to Reuters.

A barrel of the European reference oil, Brent, is trading at USD 76.87 on Monday morning, up from USD 76.25 on Friday afternoon. At the same time, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil is being traded at USD 71.77 compared to USD 71.21 on Friday afternoon.

Russia said on Sunday it will extend oil export cuts in December by potentially 50,000 barrels a day or more as it seeks to support global oil prices. This comes after Moscow on Friday suspended around two-thirds of crude oil cargoes from ports due to storms and scheduled maintenance.

The price of crude was further supported by a weaker dollar and larger-than-expected US inventory data, as a weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated oil cheaper for foreign buyers.

Oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, the largest storage hub in the US, rose again last month and the latest influx of crude has seen Cushing inventories rise for eight consecutive weeks to 30.8 million barrels.

Shipping companies, including the world’s largest container lines MSC and Maersk, announced over the weekend that they will avoid the Suez Canal as the Houthi militant rebel group in Yemen stepped up attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Both Brent and WTI ended their longest streak of weekly declines with a slight increase last week after the Federal Reserve meeting raised hopes that interest rate cuts are on the way.

”I think just as importantly however is last week’s dovish Fed meeting which removes the tail risks of a hard landing for the US economy and for crude oil demand going forward,” says Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG.