Oil hits soars above $113 per barrel as Ukraine conflict continues

Oil prices rose above $113 a barrel on Wednesday and natural gas hit a record high before closing its peak, as investors worried about a sharp attack from major producer Russia on Ukraine.

European benchmark Brent North Sea oil rose to $113.94 a barrel, its highest level since 2014, while New York-traded WTI hit a nine-year high of $112.51, as both rose nearly 8 percent on the day. and then gained about 4 percent.

Gas prices also rose further, with the Dutch TTF hitting an all-time high of 194.715 euros per megawatt hour in European terms, still hitting a third, before settling back at 168.77 euros.

British gas prices jumped to 463.84 pence per therm on fresh fears of a supply disruption, from a record close of 470.83 pence in December.

Aluminum also edged higher to a record high of $3,597 a tonne after Russia, a major producer of the industrial light metal, launched a major military attack on its neighbour.

As energy prices enjoyed a struggle-driven Chinese rush, global equities also edged in the green with Wall Street closing 1.7 percent in the two-hour session and major European markets with similar solid gains. marched boldly along.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: “I’m not sure if market sentiment has improved in any way since yesterday given the invasion of Ukraine and the rise in oil prices – but equity markets are showing some respite. Is.” If the “gulf” remained between the positions of Kyiv and Moscow.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top oil producers in the meantime may only tap the taps, despite growing fears that prolonged price hikes could cause the world’s economies to worry about signs of already runaway inflation. Agreed to open slowly.

At its meeting in Vienna, the 23 OPEC+ members decided to “reaffirm the production adjustment plan only …

Analysts tried to paint a broader picture as the Ukraine crisis showed no sign of ending.

“It is too early to say how this will end. The range of possible consequences is enormous. We may be in the early days of a long process of restructuring the global order,” said Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics.

Predictions of the conflict could affect the extent to which the Russian economy fell from the world’s 11th-largest to 14th, he said, which “tells us little about how the conflict may affect the global economy in the long run.” Is”.

But he said it would likely focus governments’ minds on the need to upgrade energy security and, at least in Europe, accelerate their transition from fossil fuels.

SEB Chief Commodities Analyst Bjarne Schildrop said that “the global economy is facing energy starvation right now,” while “demand destruction will eventually set a limit on the upside,” due to sanctions tightening the physical oil market towards Russia. .

US President Joe Biden said earlier in the week that the United States would join a 30-nation deal to release 60 million barrels of oil to help cushion a jump in crude prices, although analysts have warned that such steps would have limited impact.

Originally published at Pen 18