By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Oil was up on Tuesday morning in Asia after the E. The sanctions are fueling worries of an already-strained tighter market amid rising fuel demand ahead of the summer driving season in the U.S. and Europe.

Futures on July expired Tuesday at 12:00 AM ET (or 04:07 GMT). The August futures contract expires Tuesday at noon ET. They rose 33c to $117.93. The closing price was $118.27 up 0.93% from Friday, an increase of $2.24. There was no settlement on Monday due to Monday’s public holiday in the U.S.

Brent futures and WTI futures are at their highest level in more than a decade, 2022. They have increased by over 55% year-to-date.

By agreeing in principle to reduce Russia’s oil imports by 90% before 2022, the EU was able to end a deadlock between Hungary and the EU over Russia’s harshest sanction.

However, investors believe that the oil market has already priced in constraints to supply so any gains may be limited. Almost all EU countries were in agreement with the ban. It suggests the market “already priced in EU self sanction and substantially less Russian oil flowing into Europe this year”, Stephen Innes, Managing Partner of SPI Asset Management told Reuters.

“I think the market is pricing in some more Asia demand via China; however, the glaring concerns are the skyrocketing petrol prices at the pump that could lead to some driving season demand destruction.”

Fuel demand in China is expected to pick up after the country’s easing of COVID-19 curbs. Shanghai has announced that it is lifting its two-month-long lockdown. The vast majority of the population will now be able to get out and drive cars starting Wednesday.

Six OPEC+ sources claim that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) will stick with the 2021 agreement at Thursday’s meeting. This includes a slight increase in July production by 432,000 barrels/day.

Western demands for higher oil prices are being rebuffed by the cartel. Some member countries maintain that the market is stable and recent price increases have nothing to do with fundamentals.