Oil Exceeds $ 111 a Barrel as The Ukrainian Crisis Continues

Oil topped $111 a barrel on Friday in a volatile session as fears of disruption to Russian oil exports due to Western sanctions outweighed expectations of an increase in Iranian oil supplies in the event of a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Markets were turbulent due to signs of an escalation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with reports that a nuclear power plant in Ukraine had caught fire before authorities announced that the fire had broken out in a building used as a training center and had been put out.

Brent crude rose to 114.23 dollars a barrel, and by 0920 GMT, it rose 63 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 111.09 dollars a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 64 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $108.31 a barrel, after touching $112.84 a barrel.

Oil prices hit their highest levels in ten years this week and are heading for the strongest weekly gains since mid-2020, with US crude rising more than 18 percent and Brent crude increasing by 13 percent.

It is expected that more oil supplies will be pumped into the market due to a coordinated withdrawal of oil stocks in developed countries, amounting to 60 million barrels. On Friday, Japan said it plans to withdraw 7.5 million barrels of oil, an amount that makes up a small share of its demand.