Oil falls 3.66 dollars; market examines US ban on Russian crude imports

Oil fell below $125 a barrel on Wednesday on a volatile day as investors weigh a US ban on Russian oil imports and Moscow announced a new ceasefire in Ukraine to allow civilians to leave.

Views that a US ban on Russian oil imports might not worsen shortages kept prices at bay, traders said, as did rumors that Ukraine will no longer seek NATO membership.

“Perhaps this is playing its part,” Tamas Varga of the PVM brokerage said on the issue of Ukraine’s NATO membership.

“The realization that the US import ban might not exacerbate the current supply crisis could also have triggered this profit-taking,” he added.

At 11:42 GMT, crude Brent it fell $3.65, or 2.79%, to $124.38 a barrel, after rising above $131 earlier. The West Texas Intermediate US (WTI) was down $3.66, or 2.93%, at $120.11.

Crude also fell after the director of the International Energy Agency He described the body’s decision last week to release 60 million barrels of reserves to offset supply disruptions following Russia’s invasion as “an initial response” and that more could be released if needed.

Oil has risen since Russia, the world’s second largest exporter, launched what it called a “special operation” in Ukraine. Brent reached $139 on Monday, its highest since 2008.

One possible source of additional oil supply is Iran, which has been negotiating with Western powers for months to reinstate the deal that lifted sanctions against it in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.

erp