Oil Prices Slip Despite Lukoil Declaring Force Majeure in Iraq

Crude oil prices opened lower today even after Russia’s Lukoil declared force majeure on its operations in one of Iraq’s biggest oil fields because of the latest U.S. sanctions. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $63.84 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $59.89 per barrel, as reports suggest record high volumes of oil in floating storage, following Washington’s latest sanction salvo against Moscow. Reuters reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources, that Lukoil had declared a force majeure on the West…