Oil prices extended their rally on Thursday, with Brent rising above $118 a barrel as trade disruption and shipping issues from Russian sanctions over the Ukraine crisis sparked supply worries, while US crude stocks fell to multi-year lows.
Brent crude futures rose as high as $118.22 a barrel, the highest since February 2013. The contract was at $116.60 a barrel, up $3.67, or 3.2%, by 0415 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude hit an 11-year high of $114.70 a barrel and was at $113.01 a barrel, up $2.41, or 2.2%.
The gains followed the latest round of US sanctions on Russia’s oil refining sector that raised concerns that Russian oil and gas exports could be targeted next.
So far, Washington has stopped short of targeting Russia’s oil and gas exports as the Biden administration weighs the impacts on global oil markets and US energy prices.
