Oil prices climbed about 1% to a two-week high on Friday as the intensifying war in Ukraine this week boosted the market's geopolitical risk premium.
Brent futures rose 94 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $75.17 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.14, or 1.6%, to settle at $71.24.
Both crude benchmarks were up about 6% for the week, their highest settlements since Nov. 7 as Moscow stepped up its Ukraine offensive after Britain and the U.S. allowed Kyiv to strike deeper into Russia with their missiles.
"The Russia-Ukraine escalation has raised geopolitical tensions beyond levels seen during the year-long conflict between Israel and Iran-backed militants," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia would keep testing its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile in combat and had a stock ready for use. Russia fired the missile into Ukraine, prompted by Ukraine's use of U.S. ballistic missiles and British cruise missiles to hit Russia.
Source : Reuters
