Oil prices jumped and the FTSE 100 hit a record high yesterday after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil producers.
Brent crude rose 5.7% to $66.13 a barrel as the US froze all assets belonging to Rosneft and Lukoil, and banned American firms and individuals from doing business with them.
The move sent shares in Shell and BP up by around 3%, helping to push the FTSE 100 to a new high of 9,594.82.
In contrast, Moscow’s MOEX Russia Index fell as much as 3.6%, while the RTS Index, which tracks Russian stocks in U.S. dollars, fell by a similar amount.
Trump described the measures as “tremendous,” telling reporters in the Oval Office: “These are very big ones that are against their two big oil companies, and we hope that they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled.”
He added: “Hopefully he’ll become reasonable, and hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable. You know, it takes two to tango, as I say, and we’ll find out.”
According to The Guardian, refiners in China and India are already moving to cut Russian crude imports.
The US is also threatening secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that continue to deal with Rosneft and Lukoil, a move that could hit banks in China, India and Turkey.