Oil prices have risen sharply by more than 5% as markets appear to be increasingly worried about an energy crisis following new Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
In particular, US crude for April delivery rose 5.60% to $ 96.69 a barrel, while Brent for May delivery rose 5.33% to $ 99.14 a barrel.
The United States and the European Union have announced that they are excluding some major Russian banks from the international SWIFT interbank payment system and have personally targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The European Union also banned all transactions with the Russian central bank, which led to a free fall in the ruble: according to Bloomberg, it fell by almost 30% in international foreign exchange markets earlier today.
“The exclusion of some Russian banks from SWIFT could disrupt the oil supply, as buyers and sellers will want to see where we stand with the new rules,” said Andy Lipau, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.
The markets will closely follow the OPEC + summit the day after Wednesday, a group in which the thirteen member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their ten partners, led by Russia, participate. It is expected to discuss plans to increase production.
The agency has already agreed to gradually increase production every month, but the Ukrainian crisis is not ruled out to overturn any planning that had been made before the outbreak.
Source: Capital
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