NEW YORK, March 21 (Xinhua) — Oil prices jumped on Monday as studies that the European Union (EU) is contemplating a ban on Russian vitality stoked fears about crude supply.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April supply added 7.42 U.S. {dollars}, or 7.1 p.c, to settle at 112.12 {dollars} a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May supply elevated 7.69 {dollars}, or 7.1 p.c, to shut at 115.62 {dollars} a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
“The cause for the upswing is information that the EU seems to be contemplating a ban on oil imports from Russia,” Carsten Fritsch, vitality analyst at Commerzbank Research, mentioned Monday in a observe.
The EU is extremely depending on Russian oil, “protecting virtually 30 p.c of its import wants with crude oil from Russia,” he mentioned, including “within the case of diesel, Russian oil even accounts for as a lot as 80 p.c of its web imports.”
“This implies that giant portions must be obtained elsewhere, which might additional tighten the market,” mentioned Fritsch.
In its month-to-month report launched on Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) mentioned “the prospect of large-scale disruptions to Russian oil manufacturing is threatening to create a world oil supply shock.”
The Paris-based vitality watchdog estimated that three million barrels per day of Russian oil output might be shut in from April “as sanctions take maintain and consumers shun exports.”
For the week ending Friday, the WTI and Brent each declined 4.2 p.c, based mostly on the front-month contracts.
