Oil market reacts coolly to tanker seizure

At the time of writing (Thursday morning, December 11), Brent crude oil is trading at $61,71 per barrel. A decrease of 2,5% compared to a week earlier ($63,26 on December 4). 

The market remains hopeful for peace between Russia and Ukraine. This week, it emerged that resuming gas and oil shipments from Russia to Europe is also part of Trump's peace plan.

This is currently weighing more heavily on the market than the US seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday and Trump's promise that "more things are going to happen." Oil prices did rise somewhat after this news, but ended lower, at their lowest point in more than seven weeks. Venezuelan President Nicolás sees Trump's action as a sign of a potential conflict. Maduro confirms that the US president is after oil. Venezuela exported more than 900.000 barrels of oil per day last month, according to Reuters. 

Diesel price
The diesel price has further dropped to €123,72 per 100 liters from 4.000 liters on December 10.

While Trump focuses on restoring Russian energy supplies to Europe, the European Commission continues to work on the country's energy independence. Yesterday (December 10), the Commission proposed expanding and modernizing the grid infrastructure to create "energy highways" that can accelerate electrification and lower energy prices. Several media outlets previously reported that nitrogen released during the construction of the electricity infrastructure should not be an obstacle. This proposal is still pending consideration by the European Parliament and the member states.

Electricity price
The average daily electricity price varied last week on the European Power Exchange (Epex Spot) from €115,46 per MWh on December 5 to €65,65 per MWh on December 8. 

gas price
At the time of writing, the price of gas on the TTF is €26,65 per MWh. This is the lowest price level this year.