(London) Oil prices started to rise again on Friday, still supported by persistent fears of disruptions in the supply of black gold, stemming from the war between Russia and Ukraine, in an already tense market.
Posted at 8:10 a.m.
Around 5:20 a.m., a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May took 1.69% to 111.18 dollars.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery rose 1.91% to $108.04.
The Russian military extended its offensive into Ukraine on Friday, striking the city of Dnipro for the first time and targeting two military airports in the west of the country.
The first high-level talks between the belligerents since February 24 were held in Turkey on Thursday, without leading to a ceasefire.
“The lack of new developments on the supply side has given some breathing room to investors and analysts desperate to determine the true consequences of Western sanctions on Russian oil supply,” said analyst Tamas Varga. for PVM Energy.
While fears of a “serious shortage” of crude seem to have subsided for the moment, “it would however be foolish to believe that the supply problems have suddenly disappeared”, he warns.
“The oil market remains tense and undersupplied,” recalls the analyst.
“Prices still have plenty of reason to pull back from their recent highs,” said Exinity analyst Han Tan, “although oil has calmed down from its peak earlier this week.”
The United Kingdom urged all G7 countries on Wednesday to “end their use of Russian oil and gas”, like London and Washington.
“If other countries join the fray by sanctioning Russian oil, this could result in a resumption of the rise in oil”, comments the analyst.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that Western sanctions targeting his country would aggravate the energy crisis and the inflation of food prices on a global scale.