Oil prices explode as Russian invasion of Ukraine begins

Oil prices broke through the $100 per barrel mark immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the 'military operation' in Ukraine.

Team Newsable

Mumbai, First Published Feb 24, 2022, 9:38 AM IST | Last Updated Feb 24, 2022, 12:45 PM IST

Oil prices broke through the $100 per barrel mark immediately after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the 'military operation' in Ukraine.

Even as the first explosions were heard in parts of Ukraine, oil prices started rising alarmingly with international benchmark Brent crude futures trading at $99 per barrel, up by 2.98%.

US crude futures were trading at $95.21 per barrel in Asia on Thursday, a jump of 3.38 percent.

Russia is the biggest exporter of natural gas and the second biggest exporter of crude oil. Experts are of the view that oil and gas prices will shoot past the roof if the United States imposes tighter sanctions on Moscow and halts exports of oil and gas. This could trigger a global price surge for oil and gas and could affect global economies.

According to reports, the sharp increase in demand since major world economies started re-opening in November last year in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, has seen the global oil prices soaring by over 30 per cent.

At the same time, experts say, global supply has failed to keep up with the demand. This had made experts project that a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine by Moscow will trigger a major crisis as far as global crude oil is concerned. Many analysts had predicted crude oil rates to touch $100 per barrel crude. And they were right. At the time of filing this report, crude oil was trading at $110 per barrel.

This comes as Russia moves troops into Ukraine, raising fears that a European war could disrupt global energy supplies. Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapon strikes. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine, potentially igniting a European war over Russia's demands for an end to NATO's eastward expansion.

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