Crude oil jumps more than 6%

Ukraine defied Moscow’s demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday

HOUSTON:

Oil prices soared more than 6% on Monday, with global benchmark Brent crude climbing above $115 a barrel, as European Union nations considered joining the United States in a Russian oil embargo and after a weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities.

Brent rose $7.14, or 6.6%, to $115.07 a barrel by 12:33 PM EDT (1633 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $5.85, or 5.6%, to $110.55.

European Union governments will consider whether to impose an oil embargo on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as they gather this week with US President Joe Biden for a series of summits designed to harden the West’s response to Moscow.

“It could be the precipice for global trouble supply-wise,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC.

Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment.

With little sign of the conflict easing, the focus returned to whether the market would be able to replace Russian barrels hit by sanctions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2022.

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