Oil imports from Russia, negligible before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, climbed steadily through 2022 and the first half of last year as India saw an opportunity to procure discounted barrels. Russia overtook traditional suppliers like Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Volatility has become a dominant feature of Europe’s market as it transforms into an international hub for gas trading.

Brent climbed 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $79.07 a barrel, WTI gained 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $74.12 a barrel.

The US was the supplier of 56% of the total, with some 14% coming from Russia and 10% from Algeria. Notably, around 7% was also originating from Qatar and 4% from Nigeria.

Brent rose 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.84 a barrel, WTI gained 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $78.35 a barrel.

Brent dipped 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $79.41 a barrel, WTI ticked down 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $74.26 a barrel.

Naphtha and fuel oil are loaded onto Clearocean Apollon Clyde Noble tankers at the nearby Ust-Luga Oil terminal.

The Sakhalin-2 LNG export plant is the closest to North Asia, home to the world’s top buyers. The facility supplied nearly 10% of Japan’s LNG needs last year, and hasn’t been targeted by Western sanctions due in part to the need to ensure energy security.

In the last few months of 2023, the US ramped up enforcement of the price cap and imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on entities and ships that carried Russian crude oil above the price cap.

Europe is benefiting from record renewables power installations last year, together with massive gas stockpiling and a relatively mild winter — some cold snaps aside.

Brent fell 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $78.47 a barrel, WTI inched up 11 cents to $73.52 a barrel.

The global oil demand growth forecast for 2024 remains unchanged at 2.2 mb/d, with the OECD growing by around 0.3 mb/d and the non-OECD by about 2.0 mb/d. The global oil demand growth in 2025 is expected to see a robust growth of 1.8 mb/d, y-o-y. The OECD is expected to grow by 0.1 mb/d, y-o-y, while demand in the non-OECD is forecast to increase by 1.7 mb/d.

Globally uranium demand is expected to rise by 28% by 2030 and to double by 2040.

Brent gained 28 cents to $78.16 a barrel , WTI rose 34 cents at $72.90.

Brent rose 21 cents, or 0.27%, to $77.01 a barrel. WTI gained 20 cents, or 0.28%, to reach $71.57 a barrel.