Brent crude futures top $90 for the first time since 2014

• At one point in day, Brent hit a high of $90.47 per barrel

• The U.S. oil benchmark settled 2.04% higher at $8.75 per barrel

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures on Wednesday topped $90 for the first time since 2014 amid growing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and supply constraints.

At one point in day, Brent hit a high of $90.47 per barrel, and finally settled at $89.96 per barrel.

The U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 2.04% higher at $8.75 per barrel, hitting a high of $87.95, highest since October 2014.

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On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs said the supply disruptions are unlikely to occur, but could work for energy prices.

“Commodity markets are increasingly vulnerable to disruptions, after a couple years of historically low outages following the initial Covid shock,” the firm wrote in a note to clients.

“Against the backdrop of the tightest inventory levels in decades, low spare capacity and a much less elastic shale sector, this points to the skew of large energy price moves shifting to the upside, reinforcing the case for a rising allocating to commodities in portfolios.”

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Goldman Sachs had said that Brent can reach $100 per barrel by the third quarter.

Tight market

OPEC and its allies have been unable to meet oil targets amid recovery in demand. Oil production in U.S. has also slowed down and inventory levels remain low.

The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 21, compared to expectations of 150,000 barrels, according to estimates by FactSet.

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