Oil prices rise as fear of tight global supply grows

By Zeynep Beyza Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - Oil prices increased on Wednesday with tight supply outlook as China ended lockdown measures in Shanghai and the EU agreed to ban 90% of Russian crude exports.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $116.09 per barrel at 0610 GMT for a 0.42% increase after closing the previous session at $115.6 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $115.22 per barrel at the same time for a 0.48% gain after the previous session closed at $114.67 a barrel.

EU leaders agreed to cut 90% of oil imports from Russia by the end of 2022, excluding pipeline oil, which Hungary will use to transport oil by the Southern Druzhba pipeline.

Also, COVID-19 restrictions ended in China's city of Shanghai on Wednesday after two months of lockdown. Fuel demand is expected to increase in the country, adding to fear of tight global supply.

Meanwhile, on the supply side, the energy and oil ministers of OPEC led by Saudi Arabia and the 10 non-OPEC oil producing countries led by Russia will meet on Thursday.

Production policy of the OPEC+ group for July will be discussed at the meeting. For June, the OPEC+ group had decided to increase production by approximately 432 thousand barrels per day.