WTI sits in bullish territory as markets weigh EU's Russian oil embargo proposal

At 108.60, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is higher on the day by some 1% as the market continued to react to the European Union's proposal to ban imports of Russian oil. Additionally, OPEC+ has ratified their planned 432k bpd quota increase.

The EU's move to ban imports of Russian crude oil and refined products has helped to underpin the upside in the oil prices while several countries worry about the impact of cutting off Russian oil imports stood in the way of agreement.

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the oil embargo on Wednesday and also other punishments that have included sanctions on Russia's top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves. However, the proposal has not yet been approved by member countries. With all being said, still, some speculated that the ban was not the reason for the price increase since Russia has been able to find other buyers for its crude exports.

"The proposal provides for a transitional period of up to eight months, and had already been reported in gazettes for several days. It is therefore hard to see why yesterday's price response should have been so dramatic,'' Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.