China News Agency, New York, March 2. International crude oil prices closed sharply higher on the 2nd.
Among them, U.S. crude oil futures prices rose sharply for the third consecutive trading day, breaking through the $110 per barrel mark.
As of the close of the day, light sweet crude oil futures for April 2022 delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $7.19, or nearly 7%, to settle at $110.60 a barrel.
It was the highest closing price for a front-month contract since May 2011, according to U.S. research firm Wisconsin.
Earlier, the price of Brent crude oil futures in London had exceeded $110 a barrel, the highest since 2014.
The "Wall Street Journal" said that tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and OPEC and non-OPEC partners (OPEC+) sticking to their production plans have raised concerns about energy supply and stimulated the surge in the prices of two benchmarks in the international crude oil market.
On the 2nd, the OPEC+ meeting decided to maintain the plan to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in April.
Market analysts believe that insisting on a moderate increase in production under the current international situation is equivalent to ignoring the calls of consumers to increase production.
However, because Russia is the second largest member of OPEC+, its current situation restricts its oil shipments, and even if OPEC+ promises to increase production, it may be difficult to meet the output target.
On the 1st, the International Energy Agency Council issued a statement saying that its 31 member countries agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil reserves from strategic reserves to stabilize global energy markets.
However, the 60 million barrels of oil reserves are equivalent to less than a week of Russia's oil production, the news failed to quell concerns about future oil supply.
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