Oil soars 3% to 7-yr highs on Ukraine jitters, tight supplies

Washington, Feb. 12 (BNA): Oil prices closed 3% higher on Friday at their highest in seven new years as fears of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the largest energy producer, heightened concerns about tight global crude supplies.

Washington said Russia has amassed enough troops near Ukraine to launch a major invasion, urging all US citizens to leave the country within 48 hours.

Britain also advised its nationals to leave Ukraine as Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his admiration that NATO allies should make clear that there would be a raft of economic sanctions ready to go, should Russia invade Ukraine.

Brent crude futures closed $3.03, or 3.3%, up at $94.44 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $3.22, or 3.6%, to $93.10 a barrel.

The two benchmarks touched their highest levels since late 2014, surpassing the highs recorded on Monday, and recorded gains for their eighth consecutive week amid growing concerns about global supplies as demand recovers from the Corona virus pandemic.

Volumes rose in the last hour of trading, as trading volumes for the global benchmark Brent index rose to their highest in more than two months.

“The market doesn’t want to be short as the weekend approaches…if an invasion appears imminent and you know there will be a retaliatory penalty that will lead to disruptions in natural gas and oil supplies,” Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

The International Energy Agency has raised its demand forecast for 2022 and expects global demand to expand by 3.2 million barrels per day this year, reaching an unprecedented record level of 100.6 million barrels per day.

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