Western countries have escalated sanctions against Russia, and concerns about supply cuts have stimulated international oil prices to continue to rise

Due to the situation in Ukraine and the escalation of sanctions against Russia by Western countries, the market is worried about the risk of disruption of Russian oil and gas supplies, and the price of international crude oil futures rose significantly on February 28, and the main contract price of London Brent crude oil futures closed above
$100 per barrel for the first time since September 8, 2014.

Light crude futures for April delivery rose $4.
13, or 4.
51%,
to settle at $95.
72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by the close of the day.
London Brent crude futures for April delivery rose $3.
06, or 3.
12%, to settle at $100.
99 a barrel
.

The White House said in a February 26 statement that the United States, France, Germany and other countries, as well as the European Commission, decided to exclude some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communications (SWIFT) system and imposed restrictions on the Russian central bank to prevent it from allocating international reserves to weaken the impact
of sanctions.
The European Union and Canada announced the closure of their airspace
to Russia.

According to a research report by the US Everco International Strategy and Investment Group, although all parties try their best to avoid sanctions against Russia from hitting the energy market, the risk of oil and gas transportation disruption is rising
.

Mark Hefer, global chief investment officer of UBS Wealth Management, said that although Western sanctions have not directly targeted Russian commodity exports so far, the Western position is changing rapidly, and the White House said that sanctions against Russian energy are still one of
the options.

Recently, Russia's oil and gas sales on the international market have been facing difficulties
due to sanctions and uncertainty.
John Kilduff, founding partner of Reinvest Capital Management, said sanctions against Russian banks have made it highly difficult
to sell Russian oil.

Data show that Russia's crude oil supply accounts for about 10% of the world's total, and its Urals crude oil is the largest crude oil product
in the European market.

Bob McNally, president of Lapidan Energy Consulting in the United States, said that the situation in Ukraine has significantly escalated over the past weekend, pushing crude oil risk premiums higher again, and oil prices may not fall until $100 to $115 per barrel
.

Goldman Sachs Group recently raised its average price forecast for Brent crude oil futures for the next month from $95 per barrel to $115 per barrel
.

The Wall Street Journal reported on February 28 that the United States and some major oil consumers are considering jointly releasing 70 million barrels of strategic crude oil reserves
.