U.S. plans to buy back 60 mln barrels for emergency stockpile
U.S. Senate committee passes antitrust bill pressuring OPEC
LONDON, May 6 Reuters Oil prices climbed for a third straight session on Friday, shrugging off concerns about global economic growth as impending European Union sanctions on Russian oil raised the prospect of tighter supply.
Brent futures rose 2.08, or 1.88, to 112.98per barrel by 0922 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude climbed 2.00, or 1.85, to 110.26 a barrel.
Brent and WTI are on track to rise for a second week in a row, buoyed by the EU39;s proposal to phase out supplies of Russian crude oil in six months and refined products by the end of 2022. It would also ban all shipping and insurance services for transporting Russian oil.
The EU is tweaking its sanctions plan in a bid to win over reluctant states, three EU sources told Reuters on Friday.
The looming EU embargo on Russian oil has the makings of an acute supply squeeze. In any case, OPEC is in no mood to help out, even as rallying energy prices spur harmful levels of inflation, PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.
Ignoring calls from Western nations to hike output more, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allied producers, a group known as OPEC, stuck with its plan to raise its June output target by 432,000 barrels per day.
However, analysts expect the group39;s actual production rise to be much smaller as a result of capacity constraints….