Brent up 6 cents at $70.83, WTI rose 4 cents to $65.67.

Deliveries of Russian crude to Chinese ports rose to 2.09 million barrels a day in the first 18 days of February, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. The increase — from 1.72 million barrels a day in the whole of January and 1.39 million in December — has more than offset a drop from India.

Rosatom later reported that in meetings on Monday, Likhachev also held talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić "during which they discussed expanding cooperation in nuclear energy, attracting Serbian companies to Rosatom's international projects, and training Serbian applicants in nuclear fields at Russian universities".  

Hungary has announced that it will block adoption of the EU's 20th sanctions package against Russia.

Brent edged down 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $71.38, WTI lost 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $66.23.

Brent rose 23 cents or 0.34% to $67.65, WTI was up 19 cents or 0.3% at $62.52.

OPEC+ production dipped in January to 42.56 million b/d, a decline of 270,000 b/d compared to December levels and the first monthly drop in 13 months,driven by output cuts in Kazakhstan, Russia, Nigeria and Libya.

Brent were down 16 cents, or 0.23%, at $68.88, WTI fell 20 cents, or 0.31%, to $64.16.

Against a backdrop of intensifying Western economic coercion, renewed attempts to weaponize trade, the slowdown in Russia–China bilateral trade, and the U.S.-India oil narrative curbing India’s imports of Russian energy, as well as visible stress fractures in the global energy system, the Putin-Xi dialogue emerged as a crucial strategic calibration for Russia and China.

The 15.75 Bcm/year-capacity European string of TurkStream remains the sole pipeline route for Russian gas supplies to Europe after Ukraine halted Russian gas transit at the start of 2025, following the expiry of its five-year transit agreement with Moscow at the end of 2024.