Monitoring Desk
HOUSTON: Oil prices fell to the lowest at $77.17 a barrel on Wednesday, the lowest this year after the commodity jumped to $140 a barrel in March following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The surge in March had caused an international global energy supply crisis after the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The oil market, however, witnessed a steady decline in prices in the latter months of the year as countries reported weakened growth in part due to high energy costs.
Market observers said that an increase in US fuel stocks mainly drove Wednesday’s fall.
In the international market, Brent futures fell $2.18 to $77.17 a barrel. The fare closed at $78.98 a barrel on Thursday.
On the other hand, US West Texas Intermediate crude was down by $2.24 to $72.01 a barrel, which was the year’s lowest.
G7 nations’ implement price cap
On the other hand, Group 7 nations have started formally implementing a price cap to restrict Russia from exporting oil which could trigger the nation to reduce output in the coming year.
Meanwhile, 20 oil tankers remained stuck in Turkey to cross from Russia’s Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean as operators race to adhere to new Turkish insurance rules ahead of a G7 price cap on Russian oil.
