Oil prices hold steady on expected minimal sanctions impact
Oil prices were little changed on Monday, held in check by expectations that the latest European sanctions will have minimal impact on Russian oil supplies.
Brent crude futures dropped 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $69.16 a barrel by 0800 GMT after settling 0.35% down on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was flat at $67.34 after a 0.3% decline in the previous session.
The European Union on Friday approved the 18th package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, which also targeted India's Nayara Energy, an exporter of oil products refined from Russian crude.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had built up a certain immunity to Western sanctions.
The EU sanctions followed U.S. President Donald Trump's threats last week to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees to a peace deal within 50 days.
Iran, another sanctioned oil producer, is due to hold nuclear talks with Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. That follows warnings by the three European countries that a failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
In the U.S., the number of operating oil rigs fell by two to 422 last week, the lowest total since September 2021, Baker Hughes said on Friday.
U.S. tariffs on European Union imports are set to kick in on August 1, though U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that he was confident the United States could secure a trade deal with the bloc.
Source : Reuters
