Oil prices in the global market have risen by approximately 5% following the imposition of sanctions by the United States and European Union countries against Russia's main oil companies to pressure Russia to end the war against Ukraine.
The US imposed new sanctions against Russia after President Donald Trump canceled a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump canceled the meeting, stating that there was no point in meeting with Putin.
The US Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions against Russia's two main oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which are suspected of funding the war against Ukraine. The main benchmarks for setting oil prices in the global market are Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.
With the imposition of sanctions, the price of a Brent Crude oil barrel increased by $ $2.99 to $65.58, while the price of a West Texas barrel rose by $2.93 by $2.93 to $61.43. According to Reuters, Chinese state oil companies have temporarily suspended purchasing oil from these two Russian companies.
Kuwait's Energy Minister has assured that OPEC countries will compensate for any disruptions to the global oil supply caused by this situation. The United Kingdom imposed sanctions against the two Russian oil companies last week.
Today, the European Union has imposed additional sanctions targeting Russia's energy supply, including banning gas imports from Russia. The United States has warned that it will impose further sanctions if Russia does not immediately stop its ongoing attacks.
