Oil finds support as Ukraine ramps up drone attacks over Russia
The front-month ICE Brent contract gained $1.17/bbl to settle at $77.22/bbl on Thursday on supply concerns as Ukraine continued to attack Russia’s energy facilities with drones.
PHOTO: Flags of Russia and Ukraine. Getty Images
Fires broke out at several locations in Russia yesterday, including a Russian military facility situated in the Kalachyovsky District of the Volgograd Region due to the falling debris of an unidentified aerial vehicle (UAV), district head Roman Gorbaty said on the Telegram messaging app.
"The fire outbreaks that occurred after UAV debris fell on the territory of the district have been eliminated," Gorbaty wrote.
The latest fire incident at the air base in Volgograd has raised geopolitical concerns and supported oil prices, VANDA Insights’ founder and analyst Vandana Hari said.
On Thursday, the Russian air defense system shot down 28 drones over six regions near the Russia-Ukraine border, including Volgograd, Rostov, Belgorod, Voronezh, Bryansk and Kursk regions, the country’s defense ministry said.
In a separate incident, a ferry loaded with 30 fuel tanks came under a drone attack in the Russian port of Kavkaz, Fyodor Babenkov, district head of the town of Temryuk, said on his Telegram channel. The port is situated in the town of Temryuk in southern Krasnodar region of Russia.
"The sustained damage caused the ferry in the port of Kavkas to sink," officials from the Krasnodar Region Task Force said. Seventeen crew members have been rescued from the ferry with fuel, Krasnodar region’s governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on his official Telegram channel.
Ukraine has ramped up its airstrikes on Russian energy infrastructure and oil facilities to curb the Russian military's fuel supplies, according to oil market analysts. These attacks have raised concerns about supply disruptions in the global oil market, which is already grappling with OPEC+ production cuts and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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