Oil prices rise as investors eye new sanctions on Russia

Oil prices increased slightly on Monday, July 21, 2025, as traders assessed the impact of new European sanctions on Russian oil supplies.

Brent crude futures climbed 6 cents to $69.34 a barrel by 0344 GMT after settling 0.35% lower on Friday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.51 a barrel, up 17 cents, following a 0.30% decline in the previous session.

The European Union approved on Friday the 18th package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, which also targeted India’s Nayara Energy, an exporter of oil products refined from Russian crude.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had built up a certain immunity to Western sanctions.

The EU sanctions followed United States President Donald Trump’s threats last week to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees a peace deal in 50 days.

ING analysts said the lack of reaction showed the oil market is not convinced by the effectiveness of these sanctions.

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The analysts led by Warren Patterson told Reuters: “However, the part of the package likely to have the biggest market impact is the EU imposing an import ban on refined oil products processed from Russian oil in third countries.

“But clearly, it will be challenging to monitor crude oil inputs into refineries in these countries and, as a result, enforce the ban.”

Iran, another sanctioned oil producer, is due to hold nuclear talks in Istanbul with Britain, France, and Germany on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

This follows warnings by the three European countries that a failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.

In the U.S., the number of operating oil rigs fell by two to 422 last week, the lowest since September 2021, Baker Hughes said on Friday.

U.S. tariffs on European Union imports are set to kick in on August 1, although U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday he was confident the United States could secure a trade deal with the bloc.

Brent crude futures have traded between a low of $66.34 a barrel and a high of $71.53 after a ceasefire deal on June 24 halted the 12-day Israel-Iran war.

The Star