Oil Markets Watching Russia Very Closely

Oil prices continue to move higher as investors nervously watch a variety of international hot spots, led by Russia and Ukraine. West Texas Crude was trading in the upper $80-per barrel range in Monday’s action. Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy was while geopolitical issues in the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan are concerning, one area is drawing most of the concern.

"Any aggression by Russia any invasion will be met with a strong response from the U.S., and so the escalation ads further risk to the fact that could be an impact from Russia which is the world’s 2^nd largest producer.”

DeHaan noted while not the #1 concern, the pandemic continues to weigh on the minds of oil investors. And he added, even if tensions die down between Russia and Ukraine, DeHaan anticipates oil prices will move higher into the future.

“Now, in the weeks ahead our attention may start to focus on the refinery maintenance season and the switch over back to summer gasoline.  Those will likely be a couple of major roles impacting prices, but for now I think all eyes are focused on any potential action in Russia and any potential response.”

For more of DeHaan’s thoughts on where oil prices will move into the future, check out our Price at the Pump podcast.

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