Oil Settles Up On Distillate Strength, Supply Concerns

• Oil prices reversed course to settle in positive territory on Monday on a rally in the diesel market and fears that supply might be crimped by a potential European Union ban on Russian crude. 
• Brent crude futures gained 44 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $107.58 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 48 cents to settle at $105.17 a barrel. 
• Diesel futures continued to rally after rolling over to the June contract on Monday, rising 5% to $4.0172 per gallon as a low supply of inventories globally put pressure on WTI and Brent prices. 
• Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois said that the main item was a further strengthening in the diesel market that acted to pull the rest of the complex higher. 
• Both benchmarks fell by more than $2.00 earlier in the session on news that the European Commission may spare Hungary and Slovakia from a Russian oil embargo as it prepares to finalize its next batch of sanctions on Russia on Tuesday. 
• The EU is leaning toward banning Russian oil imports by the end of the year, according to two EU diplomats, after talks between the European Commission and EU member states over the weekend.

(Source: Reuters)