Oil Prices Have Climbed 21% This Week

Group 1 - Crude oil prices are projected to end the week with gains exceeding 21%, despite a dip on Thursday due to U.S. intervention signals in the futures market [1] - Brent crude is trading at $88.92 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is at $85.65 per barrel, following U.S. Treasury's announcement of sanction waivers for commodity trading companies to sell Russian oil [2] - The U.S. plans to sell approximately 9.5 million barrels of Russian oil to India under a 30-day sanction waiver, as Middle Eastern oil supply is disrupted due to issues in the Strait of Hormuz [2] Group 2 - The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is expected to halt the storage of 20 million barrels per day and reduce global oil flow, potentially driving energy prices higher [3] - Some Middle Eastern oil producers, including Iraq, are beginning to cut production due to insufficient storage capacity, with Iraq reducing output by around 1.5 million barrels daily [4] - Analysts from ING suggest that while U.S. sanction waivers may provide temporary relief, a sustained decrease in oil prices will require a resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which is unlikely in the near term [5]