Oil soars as Russian energy supply fears intensify

  Oil prices jumped on Monday as Western allies imposed more sanctions on Russia and blocked
  some Russian banks from a global payments system, which could cause severe disruption to its
  oil exports. 

  Brent crude rose $2.89, or 3%, to $100.82 by 12:08 p.m. EDT (1708 GMT) after touching a high
  of $105.07 a barrel in early trade. 

  The Brent contract for April delivery expires on Monday. The most active contract, for May
  delivery, was up $3.14 at $97.26. 

  U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $3.79, or 4.1%, at $95.38 after hitting $99.10
  in early trade. 

  “Growing concerns about disruptions to Russian energy supplies are pushing oil and gas prices
  up sharply,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said. 

  Russia is facing severe disruption to its exports of all commodities from oil to grains after Western 
  nations imposed stiff sanctions on Moscow and cut off some Russian banks from the SWIFT
  international payment system. 

  “Russia could retaliate to these harsh measures by reducing or even completely suspending
  energy shipments to Europe,” Fritsch said. 

  Russian crude oil grades, which account for about 10% of global oil supply, were hammered in
  physical markets. 

  Goldman Sachs raised its one-month Brent price forecast to $115 a barrel from $95 previously. 

  “We expect the price of consumed commodities that Russia is a key producer of to rally from
  here - this includes oil,” the bank said. 

  President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday. 

  Russian forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine, the Interfax news agency said,
  but ran into stiff resistance elsewhere. 

  Talks between Ukraine and Russia have started at the Belarusian border, a Ukrainian presidential
  adviser said, aiming to agree to an immediate ceasefire. 

  “If there’s any progress made in this meeting, we’re going to see a sharp reversal in markets -
  we’ll see stocks rise, the dollar rise and oil fall,” said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley. 

  British oil major BP decided to exit its Russian oil and gas investments, opening a new front in the
  West’s campaign to isolate Russia’s economy. BP is Russia’s biggest foreign investor. 

  The sanctions and the exodus of Western oil companies could impact Russian oil production in
  the near term, analysts said. 

  Oil prices came under pressure after The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States and
  other major oil-consuming nations are considering releasing 70 million barrels of oil from their
  emergency stockpiles. 

  “A possible extended Ukraine war would have negative consequences for the global economic
  growth path that would reduce oil demand,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and
  Associates in Galena, Illinois. 

  The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a group
  known as OPEC+, are due to meet on Wednesday. The group is expected to stick to plans to add
  400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of supply in April. 

  Ahead of the meeting, OPEC+ revised down its forecast for the oil market surplus for 2022 by
  about 200,000 bpd to 1.1 million bpd, underscoring market tightness. 

  Source: Reuters 

  Indonesia, Malaysia to ease COVID curbs on Foreign Visitors further

  Indonesia is considering a quarantine waiver for foreign visitors to its holiday island of Bali from
  next week, officials said on Saturday, while neighbour Malaysia announced the removal of curbs
  on travellers from Thailand and Cambodia. 

  Indonesia and Malaysia have imposed some of the strictest entry procedures in Asia to try to
  contain Covid-19 outbreaks and keep new variants at bay, but the restrictions have battered
  their tourism sectors. 

  The Indonesian waiver for visitors vaccinated against the coronavirus was under discussion but
  likely be decided by President Joko Widodo on Monday, said a spokesperson for the coordinating
  maritime affairs and investment ministry. 

  Jodi Mahardi also said visitors from 23 countries, including Australia, the United States, Germany,
  and Netherlands, would qualify for a visa on arrival under revised rules. 

  Ida Ayu Indah Yustikarini of Bali's government tourism office also confirmed the quarantine waiver
  plan to Reuters but said the final decision was with the central government. 

  Malaysia will allow vaccinated arrivals from Cambodia and Thailand to skip quarantine from
  March 15. Several daily flights fly from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh, Bangkok and the island
  of Phuket. 

  Malaysia has so far waived quarantine for arrivals from Singapore, while Indonesia has since
  October granted entry to visitors from specified countries to Bali and has progressively reduced
  quarantine time to three days. 

  The moves follow neighbours the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, which have waived
  quarantine in return for COVID testing before departure and upon arrival. 

   Source: Kontan