Oil rose sharply during Thursday’s trading. A barrel of Brent crude oil traded in triple digits on global markets for the first time in almost eight years. At one point, the price even exceeded $105.
The price of Brent crude eventually rose 2.3 percent on Thursday to close just above $99 a barrel. In doing so, it climbed to nearly $106 for a brief period during the day. Black gold broke the hundred-dollar mark for the first time since September 2014. North American WTI crude also hit a near eight-year high, also briefly climbing above $100 a barrel.
Oil has become more expensive on the world market mainly due to the uncertainty that has prevailed on the market after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are fears that Russia could cut oil supplies to Europe in retaliation for Western countries imposing anti-Russian sanctions. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer and second largest oil exporter.
On the other hand, Russia is so dependent on oil and gas revenues that it cannot afford a prolonged boycott of its oil customers. However, further oil price increases may come, depending on the development of the situation in Ukraine.
