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Brent crude had risen 66 cents, or 0.7%, to $90.69 a barrel by
1005 GMT. The front-month contract for March delivery expires
later in the day. The most-active Brent contract, for April
delivery, was trading at $88.98, up 46 cents, or 0.5%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 51 cents, or 0.6%, to
$87.33 a barrel.
The benchmarks recorded their highest levels since October 2014
on Friday, $91.70 and $88.84, respectively, and their sixth
straight weekly gain. They were headed for about 17% gains this
month, the most since February 2021.
"Today it is above all the concerns about supply outages in
connection with the Ukraine crisis that keep pushing prices ever
further up," said Commerzbank commodities analyst Carsten
Fritsch.
The head of NATO said on Sunday that Europe needed to diversify
its energy supplies as Britain warned it was "highly likely"
that Russia was looking to invade Ukraine.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said "ongoing geopolitical
tensions, more European countries planning to lift Covid related
restrictions and renewed supply disruptions in Ecuador are
supporting oil prices at the start of the week."
OCP Ecuador, the operator of the country's privately held heavy
crude pipeline, suspended pumping crude on Saturday as a
preventative measure after it ruptured in the Amazon, and began
cleaning and repairs.
The market is also on alert over the Middle East situation
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-say-disclose-details-new-military-operation-against-uae-tweet-2022-01-30
after the United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted a
ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi as the Gulf state
hosted Israel's President Isaac Herzog in a first such visit.
For oil prices, bullish sentiment will likely prevail this week,
analysts said, with an expectation that OPEC+ will keep to its
existing policy of gradual production increases.
Major producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, collectively known as
OPEC+, have raised their output target each month since August
by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).
At its Feb. 2 meeting, OPEC+ is likely to stick with a planned
rise in its oil output target for March, several OPEC+ sources
told Reuters.
(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, additional
reporting by by Yuka Obayashi and Mohi Narayan in Tokyo; Editing
by Himani Sarkar, Kirsten Donovan)
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