PriceSensitive

Oil prices rise amid stronger demand from the US and EU sanctions

Economy
25 May 2022 17:01 (AEST)

Oil prices have climbed on the prospect of stronger demand from the US, ahead of the summer driving season.

As COVID-19 concerns ease, weekend travel is expected to rise to its busiest level in two years for the upcoming US Memorial Day weekend.

Despite fuel price rises from the Russia Ukraine crisis, US motorists drove 5.6 per cent more miles in the first three months of the year, according to the American Automobile Association.

Meanwhile, the EU is working through a new sanctions package, which could see the phase out of Russian oil imports.

The proposal will need all 27 member states to agree, but Hungary and Slovakia continue to oppose the embargo.

However, France’s new foreign minster Catherine Colonna believes the bloc could reach a deal.

“We must adopt as quickly as possible the sixth package of sanctions that foresees the progressive end of the imports of Russian oil and to lift the remaining reticence,” she said.

Crude oil has climbed almost four per cent higher in the last week, trading at just over US$111 a barrel.

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