Oil prices rise on supply fears

Global oil prices on March 9 morning rose by 2% due to concerns about disruptions in supplies from Russia to the market, Report informs referring to the auction data.

Thus, the price of May futures for Brent crude increased by 2.06%, to $130.62 per barrel, April futures for WTI grew in price by 1.63%, to $125.72 per barrel.

Concerns about interruptions in oil supplies due to sanctions against the Russian Federation support oil quotes at maximum levels since 2008. Russia is one of the largest oil producers in the world.

On March 8, the US imposed a ban on the import of Russian oil, a number of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal. The UK then announced that it would stop importing oil and petroleum products from Russia by the end of the year.

The United States imported more than 670,000 barrels of oil and oil products daily from Russia per day last year. Analysts quoted by the Wall Street Journal believe the US must find a way to offset these imports by trading with other countries.

Investors are also paying attention to the statistics of the American Petroleum Institute (API), published on March 9 night. US commercial oil inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week to March 4, according to the institute. Official statistics on US commercial inventories for the past week will be published by the country’s Department of Energy on March 9 evening. Analysts expect a decline in stocks by 0.7 million barrels.