Crude Oil prices surge, Trumps new sanctions on Russia stir up tensions

New Delhi: Oil prices are skyrocketing. US President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on the Russian oil industry. These sanctions have been imposed on two big Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. Trump has taken this step to ‘end’ the ongoing war in Ukraine. Oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Thursday. Brent North Sea crude increased 5.4 percent to $65.96 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate surged 5.6 percent to $61.77 per barrel.

Trump tried to negotiate peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the negotiations did not go ahead. After that, the US president took this drastic step. The European Union has also imposed new sanctions on Russia to stop its attack on Ukraine. These sanctions can have an impact on the Russian economy. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that these sanctions could harm peace talks, but Russia claims that it has become accustomed to such sanctions.

Trump had earlier claimed that India has promised to reduce the purchase of Russian oil under a trade deal with the US. However, India has not confirmed this. According to some reports, the supply of Russian oil to India may be reduced to almost zero due to US sanctions. On the other hand, there has been a mixed trend in the world stock markets. Amid reports of trade tensions between the US and China, Beijing said that it will negotiate tariffs with Washington from Friday. This has reduced the chances of a trade war. The price of gold rose more than 1 percent to $4,100 per ounce, although it is still lower than its highest level of $4,381.

Brent crude: up 5.4% at $65.96 a barrel

West Texas crude: up 5.6% at $61.77 a barrel

London's FTSE 100: up 0.5% to 9,559.62

New York's Dow: 0.7% down to 46,590.41

Euro/dollar: 1.1595 dollars

pound/dollar: 1.3346 dollar

Data Source: AFP