Oil Bull Run continues as EU agrees to ban most Russian oil

• Oil prices extended a bull run on Tuesday after the EU agreed to a partial and phased ban on Russian oil and China decided to lift some coronavirus restrictions amid rising demand ahead of the peak U.S. and European summer driving season. 
• Brent crude for July, which expires on Tuesday, rose $2.11, or 1.7%, to $123.78 a barrel, after rising to $124.10 earlier in the day- its highest since March 9. The August contract rose from $1.57 to $119.17. The premium of August-loading Brent contracts over a six-month spread hit a nine-week high at close to $15 a barrel, indicating current supply tightness. 
• Both July-loading contracts are set to end May as the sixth straight month of rising prices. European Union leaders agreed in principle to cut 90% of oil imports from Russia, the bloc's toughest sanction yet on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine three months ago. 
• Once fully adopted, sanctions on crude oil will be phased in over six months and on refined products over eight months. The embargo exempts pipeline oil from Russia as a concession to Hungary. 
• "As two-thirds of the Russian crude oil exports are seaborne around 1.5Mn barrels per day (bpd) of oil will need to be replaced by the EU," PVM analyst Tamas Varga said. "This volume is actually closer to 2.1-2.2Mn bpd as both Poland and Germany are planning to phase out pipeline purchases by the end of the year."

(Source: Reuters)