Oil prices rose on Monday, driven by US sanctions against Iranian oil exports, in line with Donald Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran. At 10H20 GMT (11H20 in Paris), the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, due for delivery in April, rose 2503.02% to 75.42 dollars. Its American equivalent, the West Texas Intermediate barrel, for delivery in March, gained 1.01% to 71.72 dollars. The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced financial sanctions against an international network “facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth several hundred million dollars” to China. On Friday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urged his country’s government to “not negotiate” with the United States. The oil market players “will closely follow the announcements made by the US Treasury Department over the next few weeks”, explains Giovanni Stauvono of UBS. According to the analyst, “Iran’s crude oil exports could be somewhat disturbed in the coming months”. On the other hand, the European natural gas price is trading at its highest level since February 2023, due to a decrease in European reserves. The Dutch TTF, considered as the European benchmark for natural gas, gains close to 4.53%, at 58.250 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Trump’s sanctions are boosting the price of oil on international markets
