Weekly Close: Oil Trades at $72 per Barrel

14:35; 20 February 2026 year

Brent crude (the benchmark North Sea oil) traded on Friday at $71.88 per barrel, down 0.1%.

Russian Urals blend (a mixture of heavy Urals-Volga and light West Siberian Siberian Light oil) was valued at $58.30 per barrel.

The price discount between Brent and Urals grades ranged from $8 to $15 per barrel.

Major trading platforms for oil include international commodity exchanges such as NYMEX (WTI, USA) and ICE (Brent, Europe), as well as regional exchanges like SPIMES (Urals, Russia) and SGX (Asia).

Trading is conducted through futures and spot contracts linked to benchmark oil grades: American WTI, European Brent, and Asian Dubai/Oman, shaping the global pricing landscape.

Analysis provided by Alexey Grishchenko, Doctor of Economics, Professor at the Department of Operational and Sectoral Management at the Higher School of Management, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

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