1. Market review
The volatility of the two oils narrowed. WTI crude oil fluctuated near the $110 mark and finally closed up 0.04% at $110.56 per barrel; Brent crude oil finally closed down 0.70% at $113.33 per barrel.
2.The Biden administration is considering using emergency diesel reserves to ease supply constraints, a measure rarely used before. The sources also said the White House is considering a waiver of environmental regulations for all gasoline blends to lower retail gasoline prices.
3.Biden: Hope OPEC will increase oil production
U.S. President Joe Biden said the release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was not enough to meet demand and wanted OPEC to increase oil production. Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, called for positive contributions from oil-producing countries with spare capacity. According to the CEO of Saudi Aramco, less than 2% of the world’s spare oil production capacity is currently idle.
4.Germany: EU expected to agree to Russia oil embargo ‘within a few days’
Germany’s economy minister said the EU is expected to agree to an oil embargo on Russia “within a few days”. The EU will hold a special summit on the 30th and 31st of this month. It is expected that further coordinating positions on the oil embargo will be one of the most important tasks of this special summit.
5.The Ukrainian gas system operator said that the main gas pipelines in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were suspended after being damaged by Russian shelling.
6.On the 23rd local time, according to Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and would only discuss the truce issue.
