U.S. oil price surges 11% to $106 a barrel, the highest level since 2014

Oil prices surged on Tuesday, with U.S. crude hitting its highest level since June 2014 as Russia encroaches on Ukraine’s capital.

Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for oil prices, has hit $113 a barrel. As a result, concerns about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have sparked concerns among investors that oil or gas supplies could be affected. Meanwhile, the price of US oil, West Texas Intermediate crude, rose to almost $109 a barrel.

The United States and 30 other member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release the oil in a bid to stabilize energy markets worldwide.

“We are prepared to use every tool available to us to limit disruption to global energy supply as a result of President Vladimir Putin’s actions,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

She added that Washington would carry on looking at how to speed up moving energy supplies away from Russia. Another statement by the IEA noted that the invasion of Ukraine came against a “backdrop of already tight global oil markets, heightened price volatility, commercial inventories that are at their lowest level since 2014.”

The International Energy Agency made a statement on Tuesday regarding the oil release. “The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery.”

According to the agency, the 60-million-barrel release accounts for 4% of members’ emergency stockpiles of 1.5 billion barrels. The coordinated drawdown is just the fourth such effort in the IEA’s history. As part of the effort the U.S. will release around 30 million barrels, the White House said in a statement.