Oil prices rally as Caspian pipeline problems escalate supply worries
Prices on both major benchmarks jumped over five per cent this evening, with disruptions to Russian and Kazakh crude exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline deepening worries over tight global supplies.
Brent Crude spiked 5.42 per cent to $121.70 per barrel, while WTI Crude has risen 5.14 per cent to $114.90.
Craig Erlam, senior markets analyst at OANDA said: ” This comes at a time of significant tightness in the market and could contribute to further increases in the price in the coming weeks.”
Prices could rally again if European Union member states follow in the footsteps of the UK and the US in banning imports of Russian crude and oil products – however the trading bloc remains split.
Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB has forecast that oil prices could spiral to $200 per barrel if the EU opted to cut off Russian oil entirely.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ has consistently failed to meet its raised output targets – exacerbating tightness in the market.