OIL jumps almost $5 per barrel

Brent broke above $115 handle earlier today while WTI is approaching this level

Bulls regained control over the oil market and resumed rally after a brief day-long pause. Main driver of moves on the market is potential of a ban on the Russian energy commodities by European Union members. However, as some countries like Hungary or Italy oppose such a move, swift exit of Russian oil from EU markets is unlikely.

Today's upward moves are somewhat supported by news of a storm damaging Russian oil exportation infrastructure in the western Black Sea. As a result, over 1 million barrels of daily exports is said to have been lost and restoring exports capacity may take Russia 6 weeks. While around 3 mbpd of Russian exports were effectively frozen due to buyers' reluctance to purchase Russian commodities, the affected export port was servicing not only exports of Russian oil but also oil from Kazakhstan. In turn, deficit on the oil market deepened further.

WTI (OIL.WTI) trades above yesterday's high and is closing in on the $115 per barrel mark. Source: xStation5