Oil prices have hit fresh highs after European Union leaders agreed a Russian oil import ban last night, the BBC reports.
Brent crude rose above $123 a barrel on Tuesday, the highest it’s been for two months.
Prices for oil and gas have soared in recent months, fueled – in part – by the Ukraine war. Brent crude has risen more than 70% over the past year.
Russia currently supplies 27% of the EU’s imported oil and 40% of its gas, and oil prices climbed again on news of the latest EU embargo.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said prices were rising because European countries now need to find alternative sources of supply.
Meanwhile, the rising cost of living threatens to curtail some EU countries’ appetite for further sanctions which could also hurt their own economies.
