Oil prices rise: US and Russian supply problems weigh on markets

Daily Wrap Oil prices rise: US and Russian supply problems weigh on markets Przemysław Ciszak • 6 hrs • 2 mins read Oil prices rose on Wednesday on supply disruptions in the US and Russia as markets await details of Ukraine peace talks, brokers report. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate oil for March delivery is trading at around $72 on the NYMEX in New York, up 0.31%. Brent on the ICE is valued at around $76 a barrel for April, up 0.25%. Russia said oil flow through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), the main export route for oil from Kazakhstan, was reduced by 30-40% on Tuesday after a Ukrainian drone attacked a pumping station. According to calculations by Reuters news agency, a 30% reduction in flow would mean a loss of 380,000 barrels per day on the market. On February 18, a CPC administrative team worked at the station together with representatives of the Western region of the consortium. The task of the specialists is to prepare and carry out repair work in the shortest possible time, together with contractors, to restore the functionality of all subunits of the station, the CPC consortium's release said. The CPC pipeline system is one of the main projects in the CIS energy sector. The length of the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline is 1511 km. This route transports over two-thirds of all Kazakhstan's exported oil, as well as crude oil from Russian deposits, including the Caspian region. The CPC sea terminal is equipped with three mooring options for single anchor buoys, which allow safe loading of tankers at a considerable distance from the coast. Frost threatens supplies from the US At the same time, the frost threatens oil supplies in the US. The North Dakota Pipeline Authority estimates that production in that state could fall by as much as 150,000 barrels a day due to the cold. The administration of US President Donald Trump informed on Tuesday that it has agreed to further talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. An agreement could ease or help lift sanctions that have disrupted Russian oil supplies. Trump expressed enthusiasm about Tuesday's talks in Riyadh with a high-level delegation from the US and Russia, saying he was "much more confident" afterward that Russia wants peace. The US president announced on Tuesday that he plans to impose tariffs of "about 25%" on cars and similar tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports. These tariffs could raise the prices of consumer products and reduce demand for fuel.