Crude oil futures traded higher on Monday morning due to the increase in tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
At 9.37 am on Monday, January Brent oil futures were at $71.39, up by 0.49 per cent, and January crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $67.24, up by 0.48 per cent.
November crude oil futures were trading at ₹5676 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Monday against the previous close of ₹5669, up by 0.12 per cent, and December futures were trading at ₹5700 against the previous close of ₹5679, up by 0.37 per cent.
On Sunday, Russia launched missile and drone strikes on Ukraine. Quoting officials, a Reuters report said Russia attacked Ukraine with 120 missiles and 90 drones killing at least seven people. This attack damaged the power system in Ukraine, it said.
Meanwhile, another Reuters report said that the US has allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike Russia. Quoting sources, it said Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days. However, the sources did not reveal details due to operational security concerns.
Sunday’s strikes on Ukraine and reports of US allowing Ukraine to use US-made weapons have raised concerns over possible crude oil supply disruptions from the area. Russia is one of the major producers of crude oil in the global market.
The recent reports of decline in China’s refinery throughput limited further increase in the price of the commodity. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China, refiners in that country processed around 14.02 million barrels a day of crude oil in October 2024 against 15.05 million barrels a day in October 2023. China had processed 14.3 million barrels a day of crude oil in September 2024.
China is a major consumer of crude oil in the global market. Decline in demand for the commodity in this country makes an impact on its prices.
November natural gas futures were trading at ₹247.30 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Monday against the previous close of ₹237.50, up by 4.13 per cent.
