Western countries have tightened economic sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices jumped on Monday after new sanctions against Russia, boosted by the war in Ukraine, as investors’ fears of a disruption in oil supplies grew.
Around 10:30 a.m. GMT (11:30 a.m. in Paris), the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in April, which is the last day of use as a reference contract, soared by 4.92% to 102 $.75.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery climbed 5.11% to 96.27 dollars.
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“Growing concerns over disruptions to Russia’s energy supply push oil and gas prices higher as new week of trading beginscommented Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank. Russia is the second largest crude oil exporter in the world.
Earlier in the session, the price of a barrel of WTI had jumped by more than 6% and Brent by more than 5%, the two references evolving above the symbolic threshold of 100 dollars per barrel.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday that he was alerting the “deterrentof the Russian military, which may include a nuclear component.
“The sharp price increases are due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, which were further tightened considerably over the weekend“says the Commerzbank analyst.
Western allies plan to exclude many Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform, a key cog in global finance.
In addition, the Western partners have decided to further restrict the access of the Russian central bank to the capital markets, and to paralyze the assets of the Russian central bank in order to prevent Moscow from resorting to it to finance the conflict in Ukraine.
The British oil giant BP announced on Sunday its withdrawal from Rosneft, the largest Russian oil company, in which it previously held a 19.75% stake, following “aggressionof Ukraine by Russia.
Shortly after the opening, the benchmark market for natural gas in Europe, the Dutch TTF (Title Transfer Facility), soared by more than 35% to reach 128 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). Around 10:30 GMT, the TTF was trading at 108.04 euros per MWh.
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