Offshore staff
NEW YORK CITY and LONDON – Oil prices reached new highs Tuesday as US President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian fossil imports including oil in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
WTI crude oil popped as much as 7% to trade above $128 per barrel. It last traded up 3% at around $121 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, jumped 7.7% to $132.75 per barrel, before trading off the highs.
As reported by CNBC, in 2021 the US imported about 672,000 bbl/day of oil and refined products from Russia, or about 8% of total imports, according to Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, based on data from the Energy Information Administration.
Earlier, the United Kingdom announced its own restrictions on buying Russian oil imports just before Biden spoke, saying it will phase out the country’s imports by the end of the year. The European Union also unveiled a plan to wean itself off of Russian fossil fuels.
Tuesday’s new high follows a sharp spike in gas since Russia invaded Ukraine, sending oil prices surging.
Russia is a key oil and gas producer and exporter, and the country’s war on Ukraine is disrupting the global market. “Given Russia’s key role in global energy supply, the global economy could soon be faced with one of the largest energy supply shocks ever,” Goldman Sachs was quoted to say in the CNBC report.
03/08/2022
