Brent oil prices soared to a nearly 14-year high of $140 on Sunday as traders worried about the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Brent North Sea crude oil for May delivery hit $139.13 shortly after electronic trading opened around 2300 GMT, hitting a 2008 all-time high before retreating slightly over the next hour.
European benchmark oil reached a record price of $147.50 per barrel in July 2008.
By 0030 GMT, Brent crude fell further to $128.77 a barrel, up 9.02% from Friday’s closing price.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude has risen 33% since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Benchmark New York West Texas Intermediate oil also rose on Sunday to $130.50 a barrel for April delivery. It, too, then dropped slightly over the next hour and a half.
By 00:30 GMT, WTI was trading at $125.15 a barrel, up 8.18% from Friday’s closing price.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday that Washington is in “active negotiations” with European countries to ban Russian oil imports as additional economic punishment against Moscow, though he did not issue an outright boycott.
Even if oil is technically still not subject to sanctions, Russian oil exporters are struggling to find buyers. Shell is one of the few companies that still buys Russian oil, although it has said it will donate profits to Ukraine.
Asked by CNN on Sunday about Shell’s statement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Shell and other energy giants to cut off Moscow’s biggest source of income and “stop buying Russian oil.”
“Russian oil and gas smells like Ukrainian blood,” he said.
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