Oil prices inch down on expected minimal sanctions impact
Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday, with the latest European sanctions on Russian oil expected to have minimal impact on supplies while U.S. tariffs ensure demand concerns remain.
Brent crude futures dropped 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.93 a barrel by 1324 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped by 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.06.
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.
ING analysts said the part of the package likely to have an effect is the EU import ban on refined oil products processed from Russian oil in third countries, though it said it could prove difficult to monitor and enforce.
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 United States, 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 EU 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
