Oil falls but Brent holds above $80

Oil drilling rigs

Oil edged down today, Jan. 14, but remained near a four-month high after gains earlier in the week following fresh US sanctions on Russia's oil sector.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading down 0.52% at $80.59 a barrel, at 09:10 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.42% to $78.49 a barrel.

Brent crude gained 1.55% yesterday, while its US counterpart rose 2.95% after the US imposed a wide-ranging package of sanctions on the Russian oil sector late last week.

The sanctions targeted oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, and 183 tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

"Headlines surrounding Russia oil sanctions have been the dominant driver for oil prices over the past week, and combined with resilient US economic data," IG Markets Market Strategist Yeap Jun Rong told Reuters.

He explained that today's price decline was slight after it rose by about 10% since the beginning of the year, which means that some profit-taking occurred before the release of inflation data in America.

US producer price inflation data is due later today, ahead of tomorrow's consumer price inflation data, which is expected to accelerate to 2.9% annualised in December from 2.7% in November.

Six European Union countries asked the European Commission on Jan. 13 to reduce the price ceiling imposed by the seven countries on Russian crude — which amounts to $60 per barrel — to limit the financial resources used by Moscow to finance its war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.