Oil jumps towards $115 on Ukraine conflict

LONDON (Archyde.com) – Crude oil prices jumped 4 percent, close to $115 a barrel, on Friday in a volatile session, as fears of disruption to Russian oil exports due to Western sanctions outweighed expectations of an increase in Iranian crude supplies in the event of a nuclear deal with Tehran. Russian forces in Ukraine seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in what Washington described as a “reckless” attack that threatened to cause disaster, but a fire was put out at a training building, and officials said the site was safe. The price of Brent crude jumped to 114.98 dollars a barrel during the session, and by 13.00 GMT, it was trading up 4.44 dollars, or four percent, to 114.90 dollars a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $4.06, or 3.8 percent, to $111.73 a barrel, following touching $112.84 a barrel earlier. Oil prices recorded their highest levels in ten years this week and are heading towards achieving the strongest weekly gains since mid-2020, with US crude rising more than 21 percent and Brent crude 17 percent. It is expected that more oil supplies will be pumped into the market due to a coordinated withdrawal of oil stocks in developed countries, amounting to 60 million barrels. Japan said on Friday it plans to withdraw 7.5 million barrels of oil.