FX.co ★ Oil Prices Climb On Supply Worries

Oil prices rallied Friday on expectations of a drop in Russian crude supply in the backdrop of the EU sanctions.

Benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 1.9 percent to $82.50 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 1.2 percent at $78.44.

Russia's Baltic oil exports are expected to fall by 20 percent in December from the previous month after the EU ban on Russian crude imports and a G7 price cap on Russian seaborne oil exports at USD 60/bbl came into effect on 5 December.

Russia is likely to cut oil output by 5-7 percent in early 2023, Russia's RIA news agency cited deputy prime minister Alexander Novak as saying.

Traders also tracked a big winter storm barreling across the U.S. that could threaten travel during the holiday season and weigh on U.S. transport fuel demand growth.

More than 4,400 U.S. flights have been cancelled over a two-day period due to the winter storm.

On the positive side, heating oil demand could be boosted as the extreme weather is expected to cause power outages.