Crude oil futures rose for a fourth consecutive trading day in mid-morning Asian trade March 22 as EU ministers mulled sanctions on Russian energy and oil markets remained undersupplied amid buyer aversion to Russian oil.

At 11 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), the ICE April Brent futures contract was up $2.87/b (2.48%) from the previous close at $118.49/b, while the NYMEX April light sweet crude contract was $2.43/b (2.17%) higher at $114.55/b. The foreign ministers of Lithuania and Ireland said March 21 that it was time for the EU to start looking at sanctions on Russian oil, according to a Reuters report. Current EU sanctions packages have refrained from targeting the energy sector. Analysts, however, said an EU-wide ban on Russian oil was unlikely. The EU relies on Russia for 40% of its gas, while more than […]