Oil Prices Zoom As West Chokes Russian Trading

Oil prices jumped on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, as Western allies imposed more sanctions on Russia and blocked some Russian banks from a global payments system, which could cause severe disruption to its oil exports, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Russian crude oil grades account for about 10% of the global oil supply.

Brent crude rose $4.82, or 4.9%, to $102.75 by 1028 GMT after touching a high of $105.07 a barrel in early trade. The Brent contract for April delivery expires on Monday. The most active contract, for May delivery, was up $4.74 at $98.86. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $4.62, or 5%, at $96.21 after hitting $99.10 in early trade.

"Growing concerns about disruptions to Russian energy supplies are pushing oil and gas prices up sharply," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

Russia is facing severe disruption to its exports of all commodities from oil to grains after Western nations imposed stiff sanctions on Moscow and cut off some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

Russian crude oil grades, which account for about 10% of the global oil supply, were hammered in physical markets.

Goldman Sachs bank raised its one-month Brent price forecast to $115 a barrel from $95 previously. "We expect the price of consumed commodities that Russia is a key producer of to rally from here - this includes oil," the bank said.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic