President Donald Trump announced new sanctions against Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft amid growing frustration over the war in Ukraine.
Key Facts
The global benchmark Brent Crude Futures rose more than 3.7% to nearly $65 per barrel early on Thursday morning.
The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate Futures also rose 3.9% to $60.76 per barrel.
The U.S. sanctions were announced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which blamed the move on “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions target Russia’s two largest oil firms “that fund the Kremlin’s war machine” and warned he is prepared to take “further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war.
