The Restart of The Keystone Pipeline And Russian Production Raise Oil Prices

Oil prices rose by more than 1 percent in early Asian trade on Monday, as a key Canada-United States crude pipeline remained offline and Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut production in response to a Western price cap on Russian oil exports.

Brent oil futures climbed 83 cents, or 1.1%, to $76.93 per barrel at 00:20 GMT. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 90 cents, or 1.3%, to $71.92.

TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) reported on Sunday that it has not yet identified the cause of the Keystone oil pipeline leak that occurred in the United States last week, nor has it offered a timeline for the pipeline's resumption of operations.

The 622,000-barrel-per-day Keystone pipeline is crucial for delivering heavy Canadian petroleum from Alberta to refiners in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast, and for export.

Putin declared on Friday that Russia, the largest energy exporter in the world, may restrict oil production and refuse to sell oil to any country that places a "stupid" price cap on Russian oil, as agreed upon by the G7 nations.

In a research, ANZ analysts claimed that the uncertainty surrounding European Union sanctions on Russian oil and the related price cap has kept price volatility high, but the restrictions have thus far had minimal influence on global markets.

Brent and WTI recorded their greatest weekly falls in months and touched lows not seen since December 2021 owing to concerns about the impact of a global recession on oil demand.