Expensive petrol: Oil prices start the new week with a price premium
Photo: Andreas Gebert / picture alliance / dpa
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden was photographed greeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump.
When he boarded the plane home that evening, the results were meager.
Biden wants Saudi Arabia to lower the price of oil by increasing its production.
The country only signaled that this was possible to a limited extent.
The oil price markets started the new week correspondingly tense.
The Brent variety from the North Sea rose by two percent to $103.24 per barrel (159 liters) by midday.
The price for a barrel of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety rose by a good 1.8 percent to $99.40.
Crude oil prices have mostly fallen in recent weeks.
This was triggered by fears that the global economy could slip into recession.
This would also slow demand for crude oil, gasoline and diesel.
Irrespective of this, oil prices remain at a high level.
Compared to the beginning of the year, prices are about 35 percent higher.
The main reason is Russia's war against Ukraine and sanctions against Russia by primarily Western countries.
As a result, the supply of Russian oil has fallen sharply, especially in the western hemisphere.
Hofreiter encourages purchasing cartels
In order to curb the prices for energy imports, the Greens European politician Anton Hofreiter has meanwhile spoken out in favor of European purchasing cartels.
"Russia does not have the upper hand yet if we act correctly," said the chairman of the European Committee in the Bundestag on Monday in the ARD "Morgenmagazin".
He supports the proposal of the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, "namely that we set up purchasing cartels and bundle European buyer power and cap prices".
This would have several positive effects, said the Green politician.
Russia would make less money from its energy exports, inflation would fall "and people's energy costs would go down."
The foreign ministers of the European Union will discuss further tightening of sanctions against Russia on Monday in Brussels.
Hofreiter complained that the Italian proposal is not up for discussion.
This shows that "there is too much fear of Russia turning off the natural gas tap," he said.
"And that's when you realize: you're making yourself vulnerable to blackmail."
He advises more consistency.
"The European Union must show more strength there," Hofreiter demanded.
"At least daring to introduce such a price cap would be the right thing."
sol/dpa/AFP