WTI crude nears $100, Brent rises by more than 5%

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices edged up on Thursday amid the latest development related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The international benchmark Brent crude was trading up 5.42% at $103.33 per barrel, at 2.30 pm Makkah time.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 5.01% to $99.80 a barrel.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned that the Ukraine crisis could cut more than 1% of global growth this year and add 2.5% to inflation.

Further, the US central bank raised the interest rate for the first time since 2018 yesterday, on March 16, by about 25 basis points, to range between 0.25% and 0.50%, while also indicating that it may implement six additional hikes this year.

Meanwhile, China imposed lockdown measures across several parts of the country in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Separately, the US Department of Energy announced on March 16 that it offered contracts for 30 million barrels of US strategic oil reserves for sale, as President Joe Biden criticized the continued rise in gasoline prices in the country despite the recent decline in crude oil prices.