Crude oil in the week of Feb 17 - Feb 21

Crude oil in the week of Feb 17 - Feb 21

Crude oil futures traded rangebound in the midmorning trading session in Asia on Feb. 17, as G7 foreign ministers closely monitored the outcomes of ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

At 11:49 am Singapore time (0349 GMT), the ICE April Brent futures contract rose 12 cents/b (0.16%) day over day to $74.86/b, while the NYMEX April light sweet crude contract edged 6 cents/b (0.08%) higher from the previous close to $70.8/b.

Any G7 sanctions after February will be tied to whether Russia negotiates in good faith to end the conflict in Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement Feb. 15.

The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Together with allies in the EU and Australia, it imposed price caps on Russian oil as part of its response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine

The statement said the G7 has made a key contribution to ending the war "by supporting Ukraine financially through the use of extraordinary revenues stemming from Russian sovereign assets, by imposing further costs on Russia, if they do not negotiate in good faith, through caps on oil and gas prices, and by making sanctions against Russia more effective."

US and Russian officials are expected to discuss sanctions in the coming weeks after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to initiate Ukraine peace negotiations Feb. 12.

Analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights said an end to the war would likely be linked to the easing or removal of US sanctions on Russian oil.

"This will not lead to an increase in Russian oil production on its own, but it would increase the number of markets willing to buy Russian oil. It could also give confidence to the Russian upstream industry for more investment," the analysts said.

*Source: S&P Global