Brent oil for the first time since the summer of 2014 exceeded $ 111 per barrel

World prices for “black gold” of reference grades continue to rise against the backdrop of Western sanctions against Russia due to its military operation in Ukraine.

This morning, May futures for Brent North Sea oil blend rose 5.83% to $111.09 a barrel, while futures for West Texas WTI rose 5.68% to $109.28 a barrel, TASS reports.

The last time Brent broke the $111 mark was in July 2014.

As RBC notes with reference to traders, oil prices are rising against the backdrop of interruptions in supplies through the Black Sea ports. Western sanctions do not directly affect the fuel and energy complex of the Russian Federation, but Russian banks have problems with export financing.

Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has been going on for the sixth day. Yesterday, oil futures were rising even after the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced an agreement by its members to release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to mitigate the shortage that could result from Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, PRIME points out.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

In particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and access their financial systems.

You can follow the chronicle of events around Ukraine on March 2 here.