The oil prices rose this Monday due to the pulse between Russia and the West around Ukraineadding to supply concerns that have kept prices close to US$100 a barrel.
Brent crude futures gained $1.85, or 1.98%, to $95.39 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up more than $2 at $93.37 a barrel.
Russian forces on Monday killed a group of five saboteurs who penetrated the country’s southwestern border from Ukraine, local military officials told news agencies, an allegation Ukraine called false news.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in principle to a summit on Ukraine, but the Kremlin said there were no immediate plans.
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US markets were closed on Monday for the President’s Day holiday.
“Oil prices march higher again as optimism for a Biden-Putin meeting fades as OPEC+ continues to struggle to meet its quotas, which have largely created the world’s dire energy deficit.”, said Pratibha Thaker of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Ministers from Arab oil-producing countries said on Sunday that OPEC+ should stick to its current agreement to add 400,000 barrels a day of oil output each month, rejecting calls to pump more crude to ease pressure on prices.
The gains have been limited by the possibility that more than a million barrels a day of Iranian crude will return to the market.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that “significant progress” had been made in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, after a senior EU official said on Friday that a pact was in the offing. “very, very close”.
“If there is a Russian invasion (of Ukraine), as the US and UK have warned in recent days, Brent futures could rise above $100, even if a deal is struck with Iran.”, Commonwealth Bank analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note.
