The two oil benchmarks rose around 6% to above $100 a barrel on Thursday, spurred by the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin refusing to suspend its offensive and the IEA fearing a shock to oil supplies .
At around 12:20 GMT (1:20 p.m. Paris), a barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in May was up 6.02% at $103.92.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery bounced back above $100, gaining 5.77% to $100.52 a barrel.
The Kremlin on Thursday rejected the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest court, which ordered Russia the day before to immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine. Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of bombing a theater where “more than a thousand“Civilians had sought refuge.
“The world must finally admit that Russia has become a terrorist state‘ said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday evening.
The offensive and the determination of the two camps did not prevent the continuation of the parallel talks, which resumed on Monday via video conference.
“While the fact that the two sides are talking is a good thing, one can’t help but think that for Russia it’s all about pretense“, warns Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets “while Ukraine will insist on concrete security guarantees that Russia may find difficult to accept“.
The monthly report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) also caused a black gold price, whichshockon the world oil supply following the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
That “strict assessment“IEA”sparked fresh supply concerns, fueling price increases today‘ continues Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor.
The IEA forecasts an oil market”much tighter than before“, confirms Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
The war in Ukraine has already caused high volatility in oil markets, and Russia is the world’s second largest crude oil exporter. “The IEA also lowered its oil demand forecast for the second quarter.“, annoyed Carsten Fritsch, “but the downward adjustment is not as pronounced as that of supply“.
Rise in gas prices in Europe
Gas prices in Europe, for their part, are rising again after less Russian gas flowed through a key pipeline. On the Dutch futures market – the most important for Europe – the gas price rose by more than 7% to EUR 110 per megawatt hour.
The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline transports 15% less natural gas than on Wednesday. Despite the invasion of Ukraine, Russia continues to supply gas to Europe. State-owned Gazprom says all delivery commitments will be met.