ANKARA -- Oil prices increased on Thursday on expectations that Russia will cut its oil exports more than previously announced.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $80.79 per barrel at 9:35 a.m. local time (0635 GMT), up 0.24 percent from the closing price of $80.60 a barrel in the previous trading session.
At the same time, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $74.14 per barrel, a 0.26 percent rise after the previous session closed at $73.95 a barrel.
A bigger output cut by major oil producers will put pressure on global supply.
Russia is expected to cut oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March, but reports indicate that the country may cut supply even further.
The country is reducing its supply in response to Western sanctions against Russian oil exports.
The EU ban on Russian seaborne oil products, as well as a price cap of $100 per barrel on premium Russian oil products such as diesel, and a price cap of $45 per barrel on discounted products such as fuel oil, went into effect on Feb. 5.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak warned at the beginning of the month that Western countries' price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products could cause supply problems on the market.
The OPEC+ group also plans to reduce its oil production targets by 2 million barrels a day until the end of 2023, further limiting available oil supply globally.
Meanwhile, preliminary US oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute showed an increase of 9.8 million barrels, against expectations of a 1.2 million-barrel rise.
A build in inventory data points to lower demand in the country, limiting overall oil price increases.
Markets are awaiting official inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration, due later in the day. (Anadolu)
