Oil price surge: Russian supply concerns hit as crude up 1% – ‘Bellicose rhetoric!’ | City & Business | Finance

Oil prices settled around one percent higher yesterday, Reuters has claimed. The slight surge comes as the market focused on Russian oil supply concerns, Chinese demand rebounded and the Bank of England hiked interest rates.

Brent crude futures increased by 0.7 percent to $90.46 after rising by over $2 in an earlier session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude also increased by 0.7 percent to reach $83.49.

However, the primarily American benchmark witnessed a rise of more than $3 in the earlier session.

Certain decisions taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin also appear to have affected prices.

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Putin even pushed ahead with Russia’s biggest conscription effort since the end of the Second World War.

John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York, said: “Putin’s bellicose rhetoric is what’s propping up this market.”

The Ministry of Defence’s intelligence update also suggested Putin’s manoeuvres come while Ukrainian troops keep putting pressure on their Russian rivals.

The MoD said: “Ukrainian forces have secured bridgeheads on the east bank of the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast.

However, a rebound in China and an announcement from Threadneedle Street have also influenced the change.

The change in China, which is the world’s largest oil importer, comes after strict coronavirus restrictions impacted the market.

But the Bank of England also raised its interest rate to 2.25 percent in a bid to keep inflation down.

ING bank said: “[The rate hike was] less than markets had been pricing and defying some expectations that UK policymakers might be forced into a larger move.”