By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices were positive on Monday night as indications remain that there is a potential European Union (EU) ban on Russian crude even as major markets were closed for public holidays.
Brent crude futures were up 7 cents or 0.1 per cent to $107.21 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 4 cents to $104.73 a barrel.
The EU is reportedly leaning toward a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of the year after talks between the European Commission and EU member states this weekend.
It has prepared the sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion just over two months ago of Ukraine that Moscow calls a special military operation.
The package is expected to target Russian oil, Russian and Belarusian banks, as well as more individuals and companies.
The Commission, which is coordinating the EU response, held talks dubbed “confessionals” with small groups of EU countries and will aim to firm up its sanctions plan in time for a meeting of EU ambassadors in its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, as Western countries have refrained from buying Russian oil due to sanctions on those exports, the impact on global supply has been somewhat cushioned as India has been picking up heavily-discounted Russian cargoes.
On the demand side, US factory activity grew at its slowest pace in nearly two years in April, according to a survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday.
However, the ISM’s index of national factory activity fell to a reading of 55.4 last month, which is still considered to be a mark of expansion.
There was also weak data from China which showed that factory activity in the world’s second-largest economy contracted for a second straight month to its lowest level since February 2020 because of COVID lockdowns in Shanghai and Beijing.
On the supply side, Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said it would temporarily resume operations at the Zueitina oil terminal after it declared force majeure in late April on some shipments as political protesters forced a number of oil facilities to suspend operations.
Dipo Olowookere