Elon Musk calls for boosting oil, gas production to replace Russian production

Musk shared on Twitter that although increased oil and gas production will negatively impact Tesla, sustainable energy solutions may not respond immediately to Russian oil and gas exports. “Hate to say it, but we urgently need to increase oil and gas production,” he wrote. Furthermore, “extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures.”

Meanwhile, oil rose on Friday, ending the week at a multi-year high as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified and oil buyers turned barrels away from the world’s second-largest exporter of crude. Gave. Crude prices posted their biggest weekly gains since mid-2020, with the Brent benchmark up 21% and US crude up 26%. The most traded oil futures closed at levels not seen since 2013 and 2008, respectively.

Oil surged throughout the week as the United States and allies heaped sanctions on Russia that, while not aimed at selling Russian oil and gas, still squeezed its industry, and threatened a growing supply crisis in the coming months. Gave. Brent futures were up $7.65, or 6.9%, at $118.11 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $8.01, or 7.4%, at $115.68.

This was the highest closure for Brent since February 2013 and for WTI since September 2008. During the week, Brent rose to its highest intraday level since May 2012 and WTI’s highest level since September 2008.

Russia exports 4 million to 5 million barrels of oil daily, making it the world’s second largest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia. Traders were barely able to sell Russian oil all week, with Shell plc being the only notable buyer of Russian cargo on Friday, which was sold physical Brent crude at a $28-discount.

The chaos is likely to continue. Under pressure from lawmakers from both major parties, the Biden administration said it was looking at options to cut US imports of Russian oil while it tries to reduce the impact on global supplies and consumers.

“While US oil imports from Russia are small in a global context,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Stanovo, crude prices rose of late as “some market participants may worry that other countries may follow suit.” Huh.”

Britain will target Russia’s energy sector in a future sanctions era, its foreign minister said on Friday. The government has so far resisted the move, due to concerns that it would push up energy bills.

(with inputs from agencies)