Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday after rising on Monday, as markets were hit by a production shutdown at Norway's Johan Sverdrup oil field, while investors remained cautious amid concerns about a possible escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Both benchmarks rose more than $2 a barrel during Monday's trading.
“The market saw some changes after Monday’s gains,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities, noting that investors are cautious as they assess the latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
This coincided with Russia's escalation of its attacks, as it launched its largest air strike on Ukraine in about three months on Sunday, causing significant damage to the Ukrainian energy network.
On the other hand, American officials indicated that the administration of President Joe Biden recently allowed Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike targets inside Russia, in a move that the Kremlin described as a reckless decision, vowing to respond.
In the context of oil supply, the Norwegian company Equinor announced that it had stopped production in the Johan Sverdrup field, the largest in Western Europe, due to a power outage, without specifying a date for resuming work.
The Tengiz field in Kazakhstan, operated by Chevron, has also cut production by 28-30% due to ongoing maintenance, adding to the pressure on global supplies.
The Kazakh Ministry of Energy said that maintenance work will be completed by next Saturday.
Price movements
By 04:19 GMT, Brent crude futures for January delivery were up 0.17% at $73.47 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for December delivery also rose 0.14% to $69.31 a barrel.
