After rising more than 2% in crude oil’s opening session on Monday, crude oil prices stabilized at the start of European trading today, Tuesday, July 29, amid anticipation of preliminary inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute this evening. Nymex crude oil fell by about 0.01%, trading at $66.70 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $69.99 a barrel, down about 0.07%.
US President Trump’s statements that he would extend the deadline for Russia to agree to a truce with Ukraine by 10-12 days before imposing new sanctions, potentially including tariffs of up to 100% on countries importing Russian oil, supported crude oil’s gains during the session due to its direct impact on supply, given the volume of Russian exports and the limited spare capacity of OPEC.

In a related development, and ahead of its ministerial meeting next Sunday, the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Committee meeting concluded on Monday by renewing its call for member states to adhere to their agreed-upon quotas, with expectations of a further production increase for September expected at Sunday’s meeting.