Oil benchmark Brent nears $86 on heightened supply concerns

Oil benchmark Brent hovered close to $86 a barrel on Monday as hostilities intensified between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures climbed 44 cents to $85.87 a barrel while U.S. crude futures gained 46 cents to $81.09.

Both benchmarks have risen steadily this year, with Brent up nearly 11% and WTI about 12.5% by Friday’s close.

The upward trajectory is linked to belief that a sticky recession is being fought off, with interest rates in major economies expected to fall by the summer, while the OPEC+ group of oil producers has extended supply curbs into the second quarter.

Concerns over global oil supply are being heightened, meanwhile, by attacks on Russian energy facilities and Ukrainian energy infrastructure as well as fading hopes of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.

via Reuters