Oil prices jumped on Monday on escalating sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which in turn led President Vladimir Putin to put his country’s nuclear deterrent on high alert.
“Moves by the U.S. and Europe to remove certain Russian banks from the SWIFT system have raised fears of a disruption to supply of some sort in the near term,” said ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes. “President Putin’s decision to put Russian nuclear forces on high alert is a clear and worrying escalation that can only be supportive for oil prices,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
“I’m absolutely sure if there’s any progress made in this meeting, we’re going to see a sharp reversal in markets - we’ll see stocks rise, the dollar rise and oil fall,” Halley said.