Moscow, (Business News Report)|| Oil prices have continued to rise, in light of the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the refusal of the OPEC+ alliance to increase production.
Oil prices reached their highest level since August 2014, as Brent crude reached $111 a barrel.
According to London Stock Exchange (LSE) data, the value of the execution futures contracts for Brent crude oil, with delivery in May 2022, increased by 5.83%. According to LSE’s data, the price of one barrel of Brent crude reached $111.09.
As of 05:52 Saudi time, Brent crude price growth slowed to 5.77%, to trade at $111.03 a barrel.
For its part, Reuters news agency said that US crude oil prices rose more than $6 to $109.58 a barrel.
It is noteworthy that the last time the price of Brent crude exceeded $111 a barrel was in July 2014.
On Tuesday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced its refusal to increase oil production outside the current OPEC+ agreement.
The United States and its allies decided to free 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to reduce prices after they reached record levels as a result of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Saudi government confirmed, in a statement after a meeting in the capital, Riyadh, its support for the current OPEC+ agreement, according to the official news agency (SPA).
The agency stressed the need to maintain the stability of oil markets, and to reduce the escalation of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Quoting a White House statement, CNN reported that the United States and its allies had agreed to free 60 million barrels of their strategic reserves.
CNN also explained that the allies aimed to mitigate the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on oil prices.
Half of this total (30 million barrels) will be released from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the other half will come from allies in Europe and Asia, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands, in addition to Japan and South Korea, CNN said.
In early February, OPEC+ announced that it would maintain its oil production policy, unchanged, during the month of March.
The oil alliance said, in a statement, that it had decided to reconfirm the production adjustment plan in force since July 2020, which provides for an increase of 400,000 barrels per day, during the month of March 2022.
