Crude Oil Futures

  With the price of crude oil already reaching 14-year high, the stakes cannot be any higher for the global economy as a whole. As of 12:45 GMT, WTI and Brent recorded $110.45 and $112.69 respectively. The anxiety in Europe on many fronts is palpable and may soon drift out towards the periphery of the planet slowly, but steadily, unless a miracle happens in changing the status-quo. Even the Western leaders, who were compelled to impose heavy sanctions on Russia, may be wondering about the inevitable consequences on their economies due to the mushrooming energy crisis - just one among many; releasing the SPRs, Strategic Petroleum Reserves, did not do the trick in the past; nor will it do in the future, as its positive impact has clearly been eclipsed by the concerns about the potentially serious supply side problems – of course, if the conflict goes on for long. Although the West has been a unifying front at present against Russia, cracks may appear in the alliances when the indiv

  The price of WTI and Brent recorded $96.35 and £102.61 at 07:30 GMT respectively on Monday morning. With even the vital energy markets not being insulated in the current conflict, it can even go further up dramatically unless sanity prevails in the coming days. The struggle in many global economies, including those of the richer nations, was palpable on many fronts when the price of crude oil hit above $80, a few weeks ago. We can just imagine the impact on the very global collective economy with the price of crude oil at these prices. If you add the uncertainties that stem from restricted air travels, curtailed global financial transactions and above, all the mushrooming military threats, it can only get worse – and uglier. As far as the major European economies are concerned, most of them rely on the gas imported from Russia. Even Qatar, the largest producer of the LNG, Liquified Natural Gas until recently, said a few ago that it cannot be a substitute for Russian gas This