- Oil traded near $100/Bbl as Russia’s offensive heightens supply fears
- On Thursday, Brent futures rallied above $105/Bbl as Russia began its assault, though prices pared gains after Western nations announced they would not impose sanctions on energy exports
- The U.S. imposed its toughest-ever sanctions on Russia as forces closed in on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv
- Oil importers in China are briefly pausing new seaborne purchases (Bloomberg)
- Regular buyers of Russian crude from Far East ports said they would wait until more clarity on cargo financing and payments is available, according to Chinese refiners and traders
- Some European banks such as ING and Rabobank have begun to impose restrictions on commodity-trade finance linked to the two countries
- U.S. crude stocks rose by 4.5 MMBbl last week, according to the EIA
- At Cushing, oil inventories fell by 2 MMBbl to 23.8 MMBbl in the week ended February 18
- This is their lowest level since September 2018