Oil prices drop slightly as market volatility eases

Oil prices fell at the beginning of trading on Sunday evening, in a respite from the volatility of recent weeks Russia’s attack on Ukraine grind on.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading at around $111 a barrel, down about 1 percent, early Sunday night. In December, its cost was about $65 a barrel before the Russian president, Vladimir PutinWhat started? President Biden It was called the “Fierce War of Choice” in Ukraine. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, was traded at about $108, down 1.5 percent.

Oil prices, which rose last week as markets prepared for US sanctions, are beginning to show signs of stabilizing. On Tuesday, President Biden shut down the Russian oil spigot in the United States as punishment for the war in Ukraine. It also banned the import of Russian natural gas and coal.

Biden initially resisted calls for such tough sanctions on Russian oil, fearing they would push fuel prices higher — a potentially polarizing issue in an election year. But as Russia He escalated his attacks on Ukraine, and announced sweeping sanctions, which he warned would inevitably lead to more pain at the pump for Americans.

“I said I would be on the level of the American people from the start,” he said last week. “And when I first spoke of this, I said it would be costly to defend freedom.”

A gallon of gas averaged $4,325 on Sunday, according to AAA. That’s up from the previous week when gas prices hit $4,009, nearly the highest level since 2008, but down a tenth of a cent from Saturday.

Even before Mr. Biden’s decision, the United States was importing only a small amount of Russian oil, which represented less than 10 percent of its total energy resources. But the move, aimed at further economic isolation of Russia, effectively prevents the country from benefiting from US oil purchases.