The G7, the European Union and Australia imposed the $60 per barrel cap last December on sea-borne exports of Russian crude in retaliation for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Texas residents have worried about extreme weather since a deadly storm in February 2021 left millions without power, water and heat for days as ERCOT struggled to prevent a grid collapse.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 17.0 million barrels to 439.8 million barrels.

Brent fell 42 cents, or 0.5%, to $83.82 a barrel, WTI fell 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $79.75 a barrel.

Brent rose 63 cents to $80.27 a barrel, WTI climbed 62 cents to $76.27 a barrel.

Benchmark futures settled 3.9% higher after another session of sharp price moves. Searing temperatures in parts of the region and global competition for liquefied natural gas continue to provide upward pressure — even as flows from Norway, Europe’s top supplier, return to levels last seen in April.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.7 million barrels to 457.4 million barrels.

Brent had added 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $81.41 per barrel, WTI rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $76.98.

The Brent crude oil spot price will average $80 per barrel (b) in 4Q23 and $84/b in 2024.

According to price reporting agency Argus Media, Urals crude topped $60 a barrel on Wednesday, climbing above the cap that the Group of Seven set last year in an attempt to restrict revenue to Moscow’s war machine.

The central bank still expects a current account surplus of $47 billion this year and $38 billion in 2024. On Tuesday, it said in a statement that Russia’s worsening trade balance was caused by a decrease in export volumes as well as the decline in prices mainly for energy exports.

About 40% of new global LNG output will come from Qatar by 2029, said Minister of Energy Saad al-Kaabi at the LNG 2023 conference.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 5.9 million barrels to 458.1 million barrels.

Brent were up 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $76.72 a barrel, WTI gained 19 cents, also 0.3%, to $71.99 a barrel.

В рамках усилий по обеспечению баланса рынка Россия добровольно сократит в августе поставки на нефтяные рынки на 500 тыс. баррелей в сутки посредством сокращения экспорта на обозначенную величину.