International oil price: Brent crude rises over $118 per barrel, highest since 2013
India Today
Brent crude futures rallied to $118.12 a barrel, the highest since August 2013, up by over $5. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $113.01 a barrel, up $2.41 after touching a fresh 11-year high of $113.31 a barrel.
International oil prices extended their rally on Thursday, with Brent crude rising above $118 per barrel. This comes as trade disruption and shipping issues from Russian sanctions over the Ukraine crisis sparked supply worries while U.S. crude stocks fell to multi-year lows.
Brent crude futures rallied to $118.12 a barrel, the highest since August 2013, up by over $5. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $113.01 a barrel, up $2.41 after touching a fresh 11-year high of $113.31 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia, have decided to maintain an increase in output by 400,000 barrels per day in March despite the price surge, ignoring the Ukraine crisis during their talks and snubbing calls from consumers for more crude.
"The White House ratcheted up pressure on Russia with the announcement that it will apply export controls targeting Russian oil refining," ANZ analysts said in a note.
"This raises concerns that Russian oil supplies will continue to hit constraints."
The market was reacting to the latest round of sanctions by Washington on Russia's oil refining sector that raised concerns that Russian oil and gas exports could be targeted next.
So far, it has stopped short of targeting Russia's oil and gas exports as the Biden administration weighs the impacts on global oil markets and U.S. energy prices.