Oil Jumps Over 7% as Russia Isolation Triggers Shortfall Fears - Bloomberg

Oil Jumps Over 7% as Russia Isolation Triggers Shortfall Fears - Bloomberg

PRICES
WTI for April rose 7.5% to $98.46 a barrel in New York at 7:07 a.m. Singapore time. Brent for April settlement, which expires Monday, gained 6.7% to $104.50 a barrel.

Oil soared at the open as energy and commodity markets were thrown into a state of disarray after Western nations unleashed more sanctions to isolate Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

West Texas Intermediate and Brent rose more than 7% in early Asian trading. The U.S. and its European allies agreed over the weekend to exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system and target the central bank’s international reserves. BP Plc also moved to dump its shares in Rosneft PJSC, taking a financial hit of as much as $25 billion.

Commodity and financial markets are bracing for further turmoil from the growing fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response via sanctions. Both WTI and Brent topped $100 a barrel last week before retreating after the U.S. reiterated its decision not to sanction Russian energy exports.

Worldwide oil output is already struggling to meet the rebound in consumption fueled by the reopening of economies, and any disruptions to Russian flows will only exacerbate this. Separately, production outages in Iraq added to concerns of already-tight supplies, with OPEC+ expected to stick to its plan of only gradually increasing supply when it meets this week.