SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices eased on Tuesday as investors scooped up profits from the previous day’s rally to seven-year highs and as global stock markets slumped, although lingering concerns that Russia might invade Ukraine and disrupt energy supplies limited losses.
Brent crude futures were at $94.46 a barrel by 0747 GMT, down 88 cents, after rising $2.02 on Monday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $2.31 cents, to $93.15 a barrel, after gaining $2.36 the previous day.
Both benchmarks hit their highest since September 2014 on Monday, with Brent touching $96.78 and WTI reaching $95.82.
Russia is one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, and fears that it could invade Ukraine have driven a rally in oil towards $100 per barrel, a level not seen since 2014, according to Reuters.
“Profit-taking weighed on the market while there was little fresh fundamental news and concerns over the Ukraine situation remained unchanged,” Reuters quoted Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at the NLI Research Institute, as saying.
“Investors are in a wait-and-see mood amid uncertainty over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as well as the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks,” he said.
