Oil Prices Surge as U.S. Sanctions Russian Energy Giants
(MENAFN) Oil prices soared significantly on Thursday after the United States revealed new sanctions targeting Russian energy titans Rosneft and Lukoil.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, climbed more than 5% to reach $65.99 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced 5.6% to $61.79 during Thursday’s trading session.
Although prices eased slightly in early trading on Friday, both key benchmarks remained poised for a weekly increase of around 7%, marking their strongest gain since early June.
The White House described the recent sanctions as an effort to “encourage Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.”
In response, Russia reiterated its openness to diplomatic dialogue but emphasized that any peace agreement must tackle the underlying causes of the conflict.
Moscow further accused Kiev and its Western allies of acting in bad faith and sabotaging peace initiatives through punitive measures.
According to media reports quoting trade insiders, the sanctions have led Chinese state-owned oil corporations to suspend short-term purchases of Russian seaborne crude.
Industry analysts also cautioned that refiners in India—the largest importer of Russian seaborne oil—and Türkiye, the third largest, might scale back imports in the near future.
“Flows to India are at risk in particular... challenges to Chinese refiners would be more muted, considering the diversification of crude sources and stock availability,” Janiv Shah, vice president of oil market analysis at Rystad Energy, told a news agency.
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