International oil prices stabilized during trading on Wednesday, coinciding with US President Joe Biden's announcement of the start of imposing sanctions on Russia due to the escalation of tensions in the Ukraine crisis.
The US president said the sanctions were a first step and would be tightened if Russia continued its aggression.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's interests and security are not up for negotiation, and that his country is ready to search for diplomatic solutions to the Ukraine crisis.
According to Bloomberg, Vivek Dhar, director of mining and commodities research at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said there is still a significant risk that oil prices could rise above $100. barrel in case the situation in Ukraine escalates.
In terms of today's trading, the price of Brent crude futures for April delivery settled at $96.85 a barrel, after it jumped during yesterday's trading to $99.50, the highest level since September 2014.
The price of US crude contracts for April delivery also settled today at $91.81 a barrel, after it reached $96 a barrel yesterday.
