Oil prices, despite a decline in Friday’s trading (March 3), are on track for a weekly increase due to supply disruptions from Russia.
In Friday’s trading (March 3), oil prices decreased, but due to uncertainties surrounding the Moscow-Kyiv peace talks and concerns over Russia’s oil supply disruptions, the market is still expecting a weekly increase. This has created a volatile yet neutral market environment for oil prices.
As of 11:04 GMT on Friday, the price of Brent crude oil dropped by 73 cents, or 0.95%, to $75.75 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil decreased by 73 cents, or 1%, to $71.75 per barrel.
However, both oil benchmarks have gained approximately 1.4% this week, marking the largest weekly increase since early January. As a result, Brent will experience its second consecutive weekly increase after three weeks of declines, and WTI is also on track to rise after four consecutive weeks of losses.
Ola Hansen, an analyst at Saxo Bank, noted that the oil market is in a neutral yet volatile condition. He added that Brent is trading near the mid-range of the projected price range for 2025 (between $65 and $85 per barrel). Hansen further emphasized that the main focus of the market remains the disruptions in oil supply, particularly from Russia and other key regions.
As the prices continue to fluctuate, the disruption of Russian oil supplies is taking center stage. Russia issued a statement reporting that the flow of oil through the Caspian Consortium pipeline, the main export route for Kazakh oil, decreased by 30 to 40% on Tuesday (February 20) following Ukrainian drone attacks on a pumping station.
However, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Friday, citing the American-Kazakh-Russian Tengizchevroil Consortium, that despite the disruption in the Caspian pipeline, oil flows from the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan continue uninterrupted. Industry sources on Thursday (February 22) also noted that Kazakhstan is maintaining high levels of production from the Tengiz field, despite damage to the pipeline.
These fluctuations and disruptions in supply are having significant impacts on the global oil market, and analysts are closely monitoring the situation to predict future price and supply changes.
