Oil jumps 7% as Ukraine conflict offsets Iran supply hopes

NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) – Oil jumped 7% on Friday in a volatile session as the disruption of Russian exports from Western sanctions outweighed hopes for more Iranian supply if Washington reaches a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Prices rallied early in the session after Russian troops seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. A blaze in a training building was extinguished and officials said the facility was now safe. read more

The rally was extended after the Biden administration said it is looking at options to cut US imports of Russian oil and weighing possible actions to minimize the impact on global supplies and impacts on consumers. read more

Crude futures have soared more than 20% since the United States and allies sanctioned Russia following its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Russian oil sales have been disrupted, with sellers finding it very difficult to make deals even as they offer massive discounts to benchmark Brent crude.

Brent futures rose $ 7.65, or 6.9%, to settle at $ 118.11 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $ 8.01, or 7.4%, to settle at $ 115.68.

That was the highest close for Brent since February 2013 and for WTI since September 2008. During the week, Brent rose to its highest intraday since May 2012 and WTI its highest since September 2008.

Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London, Florence Tan in Singapore and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy

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