Around 11:10 a.m., Brent climbed 0.03% to $94.47, after a peak at $96.16 not seen since 2014. In New York, WTI climbed 0.12% to $93.21, also reaching a new high since 2014 at $94.94 a barrel.
Oil prices were marking a slight pause after another meteoric rise on Monday, electrified by tensions in Russia and Ukraine which threaten oil supply, the two oil benchmarks hitting new multi-year highs.
Around 10:10 a.m. GMT (11:10 a.m. CET), the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for April delivery climbed 0.03% to $94.47, after a peak at $96.16 not seen since 2014.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery climbed 0.12% to $93.21, also hitting a new high since 2014 at $94.94 a barrel.
‘Fear of escalating tensions’ in the Russian-Western crisis, on a scale not seen since the end of the Cold War, has pushed the price of Brent above $95 a barrel, comments Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive investor.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday asked Russia for “immediate signs of de-escalation”.
The G7 says it is ready to impose sanctions with “massive consequences” for Russia. “Any new military aggression by Russia against Ukraine will be the subject of a rapid and effective response”, assures the group of seven major powers.
The West fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country having massed 130,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border and conducting all-out maneuvers.
“The energy markets are clearly on edge and if supplies are threatened there is a risk that oil will soar even higher,” confirmed Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Given the low level of inventories and the reduction in spare capacity, the oil market cannot afford major disruptions in supply,” said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst for UBS.
“We expect greater short-term volatility as prices are determined by escalation/de-escalation,” he continues.