The price of crude oil went up on Tuesday after the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
An employee loads an oil transport truck at the Duna oil refinery.
The global crude futures for July were up 1.91% to $124 per barrel, the highest it has been in months.
The global benchmark contract for August was up 1.9%, closing in on $120 per barrel, as the July contract was set to expire on Tuesday.
The West Texas Intermediate futures went up by 3.51% to more than $119 per barrel.
The global and U.S. benchmarks will end May with crude oil prices rising for a sixth consecutive month.
China's decision to reopen its financial capital, Shanghai, after a two-month-long Covid-19 lock-up is likely to bolster oil prices.
The S&P 500 opened down 0.9% and the DOW index was down 1.2% on Tuesday morning, as the embargo appeared to have had an impact on the U.S. stock markets.
Russia's state-owned energy company, Gazprom, suspended gas supplies to the Netherlands and threatened to do the same against the Danes. The Russian oil ban will cause some economic pain, but substituting Russian gas may be even harder. Russia has shown that it is willing to suffer economic pain to disrupt energy supplies to Europe. Russian gas supplies to western European states could be suspended.
A sixth sanctions package against Russia was announced by the European Union on Monday and will ban all Russian oil imports by the end of the year. Special exemptions for Hungary and the Czech Republic were carved out of the ban. Russia stated that it will find other importers for its oil.
Russia is reacting to the EU's partial oil ban.
Oil prices are gaining as the EU commits to a partial Russian crude ban.
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