(Investing)– Oil prices slipped around $1 a barrel on Tuesday and were on track for a third straight day of declines as investors considered the impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies on global supply, along with a potential OPEC+ plan to raise output.
Brent crude futures were down $1.09, or 1.7%, to $64.53 a barrel at 10:44 a.m. EDT (1444 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.03, or 1.7%, at $60.28.
Brent and WTI last week registered their biggest weekly gains since June, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
“There is skepticism in the market that the Russia sanctions will be as strict as we had initially thought. We definitely saw some risk-off (trading) today,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.
The effect of sanctions on oil-exporting countries will be limited because of surplus capacity, International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said on Tuesday.
Following the U.S. sanctions, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, said on Monday it would sell its international assets.
This is the most consequential action so far by a Russian company in the wake of Western sanctions over Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022.
Moscow-headquartered Lukoil accounts for around 2% of global oil output.
