Europe 1 with AFP 6:04 p.m., May 31, 2022
Faced with the embargo of the European Union on Russian oil, the price of black gold soared on Tuesday, to approach the records of the beginning of March.
During the day, the barrel of Brent rose to 124.10 dollars.
The EU, which intends to reduce its consumption of Russian oil by two thirds by the end of the year, is looking for new suppliers.
Oil prices increased on Tuesday to levels not seen since the peaks reached in early March, galvanized by the announcement of the European Union finally achieving an embargo on the bulk of Russian oil, after weeks of negotiations .
Around 11:50 a.m. GMT (1:50 p.m. in Paris), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in July, which is the last day of trading, took 1.63% to 123.65 dollars.
The barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery the same month, climbed 3.26% to 118.82 dollars.
Earlier, the price of a barrel of Brent rose to 124.10 dollars, and that of American WTI to 119.43 dollars, the highest for more than two months.
On March 7, Brent peaked at $139.13, and WTI at $130.50 a barrel, levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. The leaders of the 27 EU countries reached an agreement on Monday which should make it possible to reduce their imports of Russian oil by some 90% by the end of the year in order to dry up the financing of the war led by Moscow in Ukraine.
Europe looking for new suppliers
According to the agreement, purchases by sea will be interrupted, "while pipeline supplies will be phased out," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank.
"Thus, Europe will reduce two-thirds of its oil imports from Russia, which will cost Russia about $10 billion in lost revenue," the analyst said.
The European Union was still importing 3.4 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day from Russia in April, according to the International Energy Agency.
The EU must find new suppliers to compensate for this loss in the coming months, explains Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank.
According to the analyst, the EU is "intensely seeking suppliers in West Africa", citing an increase in shipments from Nigeria, Angola and Cameroon to Europe.
"Oil deliveries from North Africa to Europe have also skyrocketed," says Carsten Fritsch.
Inflation 'could get worse before it gets better'
Deliveries from the United Arab Emirates are also expected to jump this summer.
The news also suggests "that the inflation situation in Europe, and in the West, could get worse before it gets better", warns Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
The inflation rate in the euro zone also broke a new record in May, at 8.1% over one year, Eurostat announced on Tuesday.
There remains an unknown factor in the equation: "Russia's reaction to the unanimous boycott of the EU", underlines Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Energy.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin “decided to retaliate and halt gas pipeline exports and natural gas shipments to Europe, it will be possible to reverse the peaks reached in March,” warns the analyst.
"The economic war between Russia and Europe is intensifying."
Russian gas company Gazprom announced on Tuesday that it suspended gas deliveries to Dutch supplier GasTerra in the face of its refusal to pay in rubles.
The Dutch TTF, the benchmark for the European natural gas market, was trading at 94.30 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on Friday, increasing by almost 7%, but remaining at levels barely above those before the invasion of Ukraine. by Russia.