Khaberni - Oil prices jumped by approximately 2.5% on Thursday, continuing the gains that started in the previous session amid renewed concerns about supply after the United States imposed sanctions on the major Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil in the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures climbed $1.56 or 2.49% to $64.15 by 03:03 GMT. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) American crude futures rose $1.53 or 2.62% to $60.03.
The United States has expressed its readiness to take more actions and simultaneously urged Moscow to immediately agree to a ceasefire in the Russian war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has resisted for months the pressures from Congress members to impose sanctions on the energy sector, hoping that Russia would agree to end the fighting in Ukraine. However, with no end in sight, he said he felt the time had come.
The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week. Separately, the European Union member states agreed on the nineteenth package of sanctions against Russia because of the war, which includes a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.
Priyanka Sachdeva, a market analyst at Philip Nova, said, "The new sanctions imposed by President Trump on Russia's largest oil companies aim to strangle the revenues that fund the Kremlin's war efforts, a move that might lead to a reduction in the actual flows of Russian oil barrels."
Immediately after the announcement of the US sanctions, Brent and WTI crude futures rose more than two dollars per barrel, also supported by a sudden drop in US stocks.
However, the market's skepticism regarding whether the US sanctions would actually lead to a substantial shift in supply has limited oil gains.
