Crude oil futures traded higher on Tuesday morning after a drone attack by Ukraine on an oil pumping station in Russia.
At 9.55 am on Tuesday, April Brent oil futures were at $75.31, up by 0.12 per cent, and April crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $71.34, up by 0.89 per cent.
February crude oil futures were trading at ₹6214 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹6198, up by 0.26 per cent, and March futures were trading at ₹6219 against the previous close of ₹6212, up by 0.11 per cent.
Media reports said that Ukrainian drone attack on Kropotkinskaya oil umping station in southern Krasnodar region of Russia reduced oil flow from Kazakhstan to the global markets.
A media release by Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said that crude oil transportation facility PS Kropotkinskaya was subject to an UAV attack. “The terrorist strike was delivered using seven unmanned aerial vehicles loaded in addition to explosives with shrapnel. The attack was timed, aiming to not only disrupt service of the facility, but also cause casualties among the station’s operations personnel,” it said.
Stating that there were no injuries to PS Kropotkinskaya personnel, it said consortium workers were able to prevent the threat of an oil spill.
Located in the Kavkazsky District of Kuban, PS Kropotkinskaya is the largest CPC pump station in the Russian Federation territory.
“All shareholders of the international consortium, including representatives of companies from USA and Europe have been notified of the terrorist attack on a civilian target by UAV and its outcome,” the statement said.
While some media reports said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and its allies, known as OPEC+, was planning to delay the production output increase. The production output increase is set to start from April.
Quoting Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, RIA (the state news agency of Russia), said OPEC+ nations are not considering any such proposal.
Citing three unnamed sources, a Reuters report said so far there had been no discussion on delaying the increase. “One of them said the oil market may be able to absorb extra supply from April as a result of tougher sanctions and higher Chinese demand, although it was too early to make that call,” the report said.
February natural gas futures were trading at ₹310 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹312.30, down by 0.74 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), February cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2646 in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹2651, down by 0.19 per cent.
April turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹12522 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹12634, down by 0.89 per cent.