Oil prices jumped after EU leaders reached an agreement late Monday to ban 90% of Russian crude by the end of the year.
During Asia hours on Tuesday, U.S. crude futures for July were up 3.76% to $119.39, while Brent crude futures rose 1.93% to $124.02. Contracts for August also traded higher: U.S. crude rose 3.83% to $116.52, and Brent was up 2.16% to $120.05 per barrel.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the move would immediately hit 75% of Russian crude imports.
The embargo is part of the European Union’s sixth sanctions package on Russia since it invaded Ukraine. Talks to impose a fuel embargo have been underway since the start of the month.
“The European Council agrees that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia will cover crude oil and petroleum products, delivered from Russia into the Member States, with a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline,” according to a statement from the European Council.
That temporary exception covers the remaining Russian oil not yet banned, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press conference.
“We have agreed that the Council will revert to the topic as soon as possible in one way or the other. So this is a topic where we will come back to and where we will still have to work on, but this is a big step forward, what we did today,” Charles Michel.
Roughly 36% of the EU’s oil imports come from Russia, a country that plays an outsized role in global crude markets.
The ban is expected to impact fuel prices in Kenya in months to come if oil prices keep rising.
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