Oil prices on Friday witnessed the steepest rise since early June as Ukraine mounted an assault on Russian energy infrastructure, pushing Moscow to restrict fuel exports and cut crude output.
The Brent futures climbed 15 per cent, or 0.2 per cent, to $69.57 a barrel by 0100 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 23 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $65.21 a barrel. Both benchmarks witnessed more than a four per cent jump over this week, the biggest since the week ended in June.
These gains were pushed by the ongoing Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian oil and energy infrastructure, considered by experts as a NATO warning to Russia that it would respond to future violations of its airspace. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday the country would introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports.
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The fall in production to refine oil has forced Russia to reduce crude output. Several parts of Russia on Friday are reportedly witnessing fuel shortages. This comes a day after the United States President Donald Trump once again accused India and China of supporting and aiding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Trump said, "India and China are buying the oil, which in turn is fuelling the war; both of these nations can buy oil from anyone but Russia."
Meanwhile, both India and China have rejected the claims and said they were only trying to secure their national interests. They also rejected the claims that New Delhi and Beijing were fuelling conflict, as was evident in the latest UNGA summit; India and China advocated for the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
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