Oil prices rise to $130 per barrel

Crude oil futures prices rose in Tuesday afternoon trading to $130 a barrel on the back of the United States' readiness to impose a ban on oil and natural gas exports from Russia, and the announcement by a number of major companies, including Shell, to stop buying Russian crude.

In the trading of the London Mercantile Exchange, the price of crude exceeded the level of 130 dollars a barrel of Brent crude, the global oil standard, while the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the standard crude for US oil, rose after reaching its highest level since 2008 yesterday.

This comes as informed sources said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is scheduled to announce a ban on Russian energy imports on Tuesday, without the participation of European allies.

And Bloomberg News Agency quoted informed sources, who declined to be identified, that the ban will include oil, liquefied natural gas and Russian coal.

Another source said the decision was made after consulting with European allies, who rely more than America on Russian energy sources.

The price of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for US oil, rose by 4.8% to $125.16 a barrel for delivery next April in New York trading at 8:47 am New York time, after rising yesterday by 3.2%.

The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 5.4 percent to $129.82 a barrel for May delivery.

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