Oil prices increased on Monday as fears of limited global supply intensified, with the developing crisis in Ukraine raising the risk of more penalties from the West against Russia, the world’s leading exporter.
Brent futures were up $1.50, or 1.3 per cent, at $113.20 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 98 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $107.93 per barrel. Both contracts surged more than 2.5 per cent on April 14, ahead of the Easter weekend holidays, on news that the European Union would phase in a ban on Russian oil imports.
Last week, EU governments said that the bloc’s executive was working on ideas to ban Russian oil, but officials said Germany was not actively backing an immediate ban.
Those remarks came before the Ukraine situation escalated over the weekend, with the Ukrainian military defying a Russian demand to lay down arms in the pulverised port of Mariupol on Sunday. Moscow, which refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a “special operation,” said its soldiers had nearly entirely captured the city, with no sign of a truce in sight.
Read more: Oil prices jump following Russia’s biggest production decline
Due to sanctions or importers voluntarily rejecting Russian shipments, the International Energy Agency has warned that around 3 million barrels per day (BPD) of Russian oil might be shut in from May onwards.
