IEA warns of grim energy market conditions Brent crude stands at $110

The reporter learned that the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine threatened global energy security, and the price of Brent crude oil continued to rise before the OPEC+ meeting, breaking through $
110 per barrel.

Brent crude oil futures and WTI crude oil futures both rose more than 5%.

After the United States and other major economies agreed to release oil reserves, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Tuesday that the situation in the energy market was very serious
.
OPEC+ is about to meet to discuss supply issues in April, and investors will be watching for the group's reaction
.
Despite the turmoil sweeping the industry, OPEC+ production is expected to increase
only modestly.

Global oil markets have tightened sharply ahead of the Russia-Ukraine war as economies rebound strongly from the pandemic and disruptions to Russian exports threaten to push crude prices
even higher.
Traders are betting on higher oil prices, and investment banks, including Morgan Stanley, have raised their near-term oil price forecasts
.

The world is facing rising inflationary pressures
.
Sanctions against Russia will further push up energy, metals and grain prices
.
That prompted the United States and its allies to release 60 million barrels of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to curb rising oil prices, though similar actions taken late last year had little
effect.

Russia's flagship Urals crude was sold at a record discount, but buyers were wary of fearing the impact of
financial sanctions.

"I think oil prices will only continue to rise," ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said
.
"It's hard to see what OPEC can do
.
"

Brent crude remains at a serious spot premium, where spot prices are higher than forward prices, a bullish pattern that indicates that the market is uneasy
about tighter supply.
The spot spread for the benchmark crude was $5.
14 per barrel, compared to $
1.
39 per barrel early last month.

The Russian-Ukrainian war has already had a wide range of effects
.
BP.
US) and Shell (SHEL.
US) and other oil majors are pulling out of Russia, and some European banks are beginning to impose restrictions
on commodity trade finance linked to Russia and Ukraine.

In addition, API crude inventories in the United States fell by 6.
1 million barrels last week, and inventories in Cushing storage centers also declined
.