US crude prices finished Wednesday at
the highest level since 2011 after major oil exporters declined to increase
output more quickly despite the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April jumped 7.0
percent to $110.60 a barrel as Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top oil
exporters said they would stick to their plan to boost production by just
400,000 barrels a day in April, the same pace as in recent months.
And Brent futures for May delivery jumped 7.6 percent to $112.93 a barrel,
the highest since 2014.
The rise comes amid worries that the ongoing war in Ukraine and
international sanctions on Russia will sideline key crude supply in an
already-tight market.
But the OPEC+ group concluded that the market was “well-balanced” and
“current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by
current geopolitical developments,” according to a press release.
The meeting Wednesday, held via video conference, come a day after
International Energy Agency (IEA) members agreed to release 60 million
barrels of oil from strategic reserves to try to stabilize global markets.
But the IEA action was not “sufficient relief” in light of the “already
critical tightness of the global oil market, even before the escalation in
Ukraine,” Goldman Sachs said in a note.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)