Oil edged higher on Tuesday after a choppy session following a short-lived armed uprising in Russia, a major OPEC+ producer.
West Texas Intermediate futures climbed toward $70 a barrel after closing 0.3% higher on Monday. While the dramatic events in Russia over the weekend came to an abrupt end, they add further uncertainty to an oil market grappling with persistent concerns over the demand outlook, especially from China.
Oil in New York remains on track for its first back-to-back quarterly loss since 2019, in part due to headwinds from China’s lackluster economic recovery and aggressive monetary tightening from the US Federal Reserve. Resilient Russian crude exports have added to the pressure on prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned leaders of the Wagner mercenary group as “traitors,” although his comments did little to clarify the mystery of the weekend’s events or the fate of mutiny leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Any prolonged turmoil would impact global oil markets.
“The aborted mutiny fizzled,” said Vishnu Varathan, the Asia head of economics and strategy in Singapore, referring to the uprising in Russia. “But this has not expunged geopolitical risks, not by a long shot.”
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