New York. The price of Texas Intermediate Oil (WTI) closed yesterday with a rise of 3.6% and stood at 123.70 dollars a barrel after the United States vetoed imports of oil, natural gas and coal from Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
According to data at the end of operations on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for delivery in April added 4.30 dollars compared to the previous close.
The reference oil in the US began to rise early in the morning due to information that President Joe Biden would announce that ban in the morning, as was later confirmed, after the battery of harsh economic sanctions imposed last week to isolate Moscow.
In practice, the veto on energy imports from Russia, which has immediate effect, means that the US blocks any new purchase of crude oil and certain oil products, liquefied gas and coal from that country, in addition to to cancel deliveries of existing contracts. In parallel, Washington is holding talks with energy producers and consumers to guarantee global supply and its stability, but wants to take advantage of this situation to deepen the transition towards green energies as an alternative to oil and gas.
Analysts at the Oanda firm pointed out that the “unilateral” aspect of the measure is what has led Texas crude to rise about 7% during the day – then it moderated – but not 15 or 20%.
