Oil and gas prices have climbed on fears that the Ukraine-Russia crisis will disrupt supplies across the world, reports BBC.
Brent futures rise
The price of Brent crude oil, an international benchmark, reached a seven-year high of $99.38 (£73) a barrel on Tuesday before moderating.
The RAC warned the crisis would push up UK petrol prices further, after they hit a record 149.12p a litre on Sunday.
Russia ordered troops into two rebel-held regions in Ukraine’s east after it recognised them as independent states.
New sanctions against financial institutions
Western powers, including the UK and US, have responded to President Vladimir Putin with new sanctions against financial institutions, elites and other government entities in Russia.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also took the significant step of blocking the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would have supplied gas directly from Russia to Germany.
But the measures announced so far fall short of what had been threatened in the event of invasion.
“If Russian goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further,” US President Joe Biden said in remarks at the White House.
UK recovers from the worst morning losses
Share prices saw bumpy trade on Tuesday as investors tried to make sense of the movements.
American markets tumbled more than 1.5% on Tuesday but turned up again following Mr. Biden’s speech.
Earlier, Asian exchanges sank, while share indexes in Europe and the UK recovered from the worst morning losses to end roughly flat.
Substantial implications on oil prices
Russia is the second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and the world’s top producer of natural gas.
Measures forcing the country to supply less crude or natural gas would have “substantial implications” on oil prices and the global economy, said Sue Trinh of Manulife Investment Management.
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Source: BBC
