LONDON—Oil prices firmed on Wednesday after European Union leaders agreed to a partial and phased ban on Russian oil and as China ended its COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai.
Brent crude was up $1.71, or 1.5 percent, at $117.31 a barrel by 0817 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.67, or 1.5 percent, to $116.34.
Both benchmarks registered gains over May, marking the sixth straight month of rising prices.
“The mood on the oil market is seemingly turning ever more bullish,” said Julius Baer analyst Norbert Rucker. “Europe’s embargo and China’s partial reopening is fuelling supply fears and lifting oil prices.”
EU leaders agreed in principle on Monday to cut 90 percent of oil imports from Russia by the end of this year, the bloc’s toughest sanctions yet since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.”…