"It is absolutely obvious that refusing Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market. The price surge would be unpredictable – to more than $300 per barrel, if not more," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

Despite the high discount on Russia's Ural oil premium and sanctions .It seems that the rise in oil prices will eventually lead to the growth of Russia's foreign exchange earnings in 2022 and the improvement of its foreign exchange reserves, which is contrary to the goals of Western sanctions and USA.

The Brent price will average $117/b in March, $116/b in 2Q22, and $102/b in the second half of 2022 (2H22). We expect the average price to fall to $89/b in 2023.

On March 1, the U.S. Department of Energy committed to releasing 30 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ensure an adequate supply of petroleum in response to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine.

The Worldwide Rig Count for February was 1,669, up 37 from the 1,632 counted in January 2022,and up 399 from the 1,270 counted in February 2021.

U.S. Rig Count is unchanged from last week at 650, Canada Rig Count is down 7 from last week to 217.

Brent rose at $111.19, WTI rose $1.21, or 1.1%, to $108.88.

he initial release of 60 mbl accounts for 4% of those stockpiles (1.5 Gbl) and would represent 2 mbl/d for 30 days

Brent was up $2.18, or 1.9%, at $115.11 a barrel, WTI hit a high of $116.57.

Reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th Ministerial Meeting and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 mb/d for the month of April 2022, as per the attached schedule.