Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.

The two icebreakers, with a power capacity of 60 MWe each, are scheduled to be completed in 2028 and 2030.

WTI slipped by 54 cents, or 0.72%, to $74.58 a barrel, Brent fell by 50 cents, or 0.62%, to $79.60.

LNG deliveries to Europe have helped ease an energy crisis this winter after Russian piped supply slumped.

Norway has pledged to do as much as it can to boost gas deliveries to Europe to help counter record high gas prices triggered by the war in Ukraine and much lower Russian supplies.

Brent were up $1.49, or 1.9%, at $80.06 a barrel, WTI rose $1.43, or 1.9%, to $75.20.

The discussion covered issues related to further expanding economic ties, primarily in energy, with the priority being strategically significant projects like the creation of a regional natural gas hub in Turkiye and the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

Dutch front-month futures, the European benchmark, rose 4.3% to €72.50 a megawatt-hour at 8:55 a.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent contract was 7.1% higher.

Germany exported around 501 TWh of natural gas in 2022 (749 TWh in 2021). As a result, at 948 TWh, more natural gas was available in Germany in 2022 than in 2021 (902 TWh).

Brent was up $1.63, or 2.1%, to $79.47 a barrel, WTI gained $1.41, or 1.9%, to $74.25.