Biden threatens biggest emergency oil reserve draw, Brent slips over 5%

The Biden administration is weighing a plan to release roughly a million barrels of oil a day from US reserves, for several months, to combat rising gasoline prices and supply shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.

The total release may be as much as 180 million barrels, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official move. Oil prices dipped to over 5 per cent. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that ‘unfriendly’ countries, including all EU members, will need to set up ruble accounts to pay for gas deliveries from April.

Western countries have piled crippling sanctions on Moscow since it moved troops into Ukraine, including the freezing of its foreign currency reserves.

The plan is accompanied by a diplomatic push for the International Energy Agency to coordinate a global release by other countries. A final decision hasn’t been reached on the global release, but the White House may make an announcement on the US release as soon as Thursday, one of the people said.

Oil prices plunged on Thursday on news that the United States was considering a 180 million barrel release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the largest in the near 50-year history of the SPR.

Brent crude futures for May fell $6.95, or 6.13 per cent, to $106.50 a barrel by 10:57 GMT. The May contract expires on Thursday and the most actively traded June futures were down $6.66 at $104.78.

West Texas Intermediate futures dropped as much as 5.5 per cent on Thursday on signs the US was considering the release.

Russian forces have begun to pull out of the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power site after seizing control of the facility on February 24, said a senior US defence official. 

Heavy fighting raged on the outskirts of Kyiv and other zones Thursday amid indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation as cover while regrouping and resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an early morning video address that Ukraine is seeing “a buildup of Russian forces for new strikes on the Donbas, and we are preparing for that." Meanwhile, a convoy of buses headed to Mariupol in another bid to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area. And a new round of talks aimed at stopping the fighting was scheduled for Friday.

Russia to lift short-selling ban, expand trading hours

Russia will lift the short-selling ban on local equities on Thursday, removing one of the measures that helped limit the declines in the stock market after a record long shutdown.

The Bank of Russia also said equities trading hours will be expanded from a shortened four-hour session to the regular schedule of 9:50 a.m. to 6:50 p.m. Moscow time, according to a website statement. 

Since reopening from a month-long shutdown last Thursday, Russian stocks have gained 1.7 per cent and their daily moves have been limited. Prior to the resumption of trading, the Russian government took measures, including preventing foreigners from exiting local equities and banning short selling, to avoid a repeat of the 33 per cent slump seen on the first day of the Ukraine invasion last month. Russian equities are the world’s worst performers so far.

UK makes 14 additions to Russia sanctions list

The British government said on Thursday it had made 14 additions to its list of sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including media organisations and senior figures within them.

Britain is acting in concert with Western allies to try to cripple the Russian economy as punishment for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and has sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals and businesses, including in industries like shipping and defence, and wealthy elites close to President Vladimir Putin.

Among those sanctioned on Thursday were senior figures from media outlets including RT's managing director Alexey Nikolov, Sergey Brilev, a prominent news anchor at the state-owned Rossiya Television and Radio network, and Sputnik's Editor-in-Chief Anton Anisimov.

Russia's Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre Mikhail Mizinitsev was also added to the list, which said he had been "responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol".
 

On Wednesday Britain put in place new legal powers to prohibit maintenance on aircraft and ships belonging to specific sanctioned Russian oligarchs or their businesses.

Zelenskyy says others may be emboldened; Russia targeting agriculture

Zelenskyy told Australia's parliament on Thursday that Russia must be held accountable for past wrongs, warning that a failure to punish Moscow may encourage other countries to wage war against their neighbours.

Zelenskyy called for new and tougher sanctions to retaliate against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and suggested that years of failure to rein in the global power had emboldened Moscow.

“If we don't stop Russia now, if we don't hold Russia accountable, then some other countries of the world who are looking forward to a similar war against their neighbours will decide that such things are possible for them as well,” Zelenskyy said in the video address, according to an official translation.

Russian forces are deliberately trying to damage Ukraine’s agriculture sector, a main source of income, Zelenskyy told Dutch lawmakers. Troops have placed landmines in fields and agricultural equipment has been destroyed, he said.