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The US and Europe tightened sanctions on Russia’s biggest energy firms, and investors made sure oil prices felt the squeeze
The US and European Union placed new sanctions on Russia’s biggest energy companies this week, summoning a stir in the world’s oil market.
The US sanctioned Russia’s top oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, stopping them from accessing the stateside financial system – think banks or dollar-denominated assets. And it’s willing to extend the punishment, saying any foreign firm still dealing with the twosome could face secondary sanctions.
Europe followed with restrictions of its own. It blocked Russia from exporting liquified natural gas to the region from 2027 and banned transactions with five of the country’s banks.
▶ That leaves China and India in a bind. They’re the country’s biggest customers: together, they buy more than three million barrels of Russian crude oil a day.
Zooming in: Not everything’s bigger in Texas.
The International Energy Agency expects supply of oil to outstrip demand by nearly four million barrels a day next year. All else equal, that will keep a cap on prices – and it’s already limited investors’ interest levels, too.
🔻 Case in point: the energy sector has only managed a meager 6% climb this year, making it one of the S&P 500’s weakest performers. And, even after today’s 5% uplift, West Texas Intermediate crude oil – a benchmark price for the slippery stuff – is down some 15% since the start of the year.
Zooming out: Solid gold.
Liquid gold might be out of favor, but the real stuff isn’t. Gold prices have been pushed up by over 50% this year, coming close to a record price. Investors and central banks have both stockpiled the shiny stuff, hoping that the famously stable asset could protect them from financial shocks – a result of, say, political shifts or more of these sanctions.
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Originally Posted on October 23, 2025 – Bubble Bubble, Oil’s In Trouble
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