Oil fluctuated after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on China and the European Union, while traders continued to assess the fallout from unprecedented US sanctions on Russia.West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed near $76 a barrel,

EU sanctions and new US measures have led to a decline in Russian oil shipments via the Baltic Sea, impacting the shadow fleet and raising concerns about the condition of vessels operating in the region.

On Jan. 10 the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 161 tankers and traders involved in about 2,000 shipments since the invasion began. It also acted against Moscow-based ship insurers and two companies — Surgutneftgas and Gazpromneft — which in the first 10 months of last year accounted for almost 30% of Russia’s oil exports.

Russia's oil shipments via the Baltic Sea fell by roughly 10% in the last four months of 2024, the Finnish Border Guard said, as the impact of EU sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports adopted in June took effect.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that the U.S. move “represents an attempt to inflict damage on the Russian economy at any cost, even at the risk of destabilising global markets.

Oil-freight derivatives trading surged to the highest in at least a decade as the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia continued to propel supertanker rates higher.

Ukraine praised U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday for threatening to impose tariffs and sanctions on Russia if it refuses to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine and said the comment sent a "strong signal".