SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices climbed for a third straight session on Friday, shrugging off concerns about global economic growth as worries about tightening supplies underpinned prices ahead of an impending European Union embargo on Russian oil.
Brent futures rose $1.05 to $112.1 a barrel by 0656 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed $1 to $109.3 a barrel.
Brent and WTI are on track to rise for a second week in a row, buoyed by the EU’s proposal to phase out supplies of Russian crude oil in six months and refined products by the end of 2022, according to Reuters. It would also ban all shipping and insurance services for transporting Russian oil. The plan still requires unanimous backing from the 27 countries in the bloc.
“There are concerns over global growth and what it could mean for oil demand,” Reuters quoted Warren Patterson who heads ING’s commodities research as saying.
“However, the looming EU ban on Russian oil more than offsets this for now, and so should limit the downside for prices.”
Wall Street stocks tumbled on Thursday as investors worried that aggressive central bank policies around the world aimed at tamping down inflation could shackle growth, Reuters reported.
The Bank of England warned Thursday that Britain risks a double-whammy of a recession and inflation above 10% as it raised interest rates to their highest since 2009, hiking by quarter of a percentage point to 1%.
