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Oil Breaches 100 Dollar Per Barrel Owing To Russia’s Attack On Ukraine

BEIJING: Oil breached $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday as Russia attacked Ukraine, sparking concerns that a war in Europe could disrupt global energy supplies.

Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapons strikes, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet.

Brent crude LCOc1hit a high of $101.34 a barrel in early Asia trade, the loftiest since September 2014, and was at $101.20 a barrel at 0423 GMT, up $4.36, or 4.5%.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures jumped $4.22, or 4.6%, to $96.32 a barrel, after rising to as much as $96.51, also the highest since August 2014.

Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer, which mainly sells crude to European refineries, and is the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe, providing about 35% of its supply.

Western nations and Japan on Tuesday punished Russia with new sanctions for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine and threatened to go further if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its neighbour. So far, there are no sanctions on energy trade yet.