Oil see-saws near 14-year highs as U.S. weighs Russia oil embargo

Shafaq News / Oil prices see-sawed near 14-year highs on Tuesday as the United States considered acting alone to ban Russian oil imports rather than teaming up with allies in Europe, easing concerns of a wider disruption to crude supplies.

Brent crude futures were up $1.06, or 0.9%, at $124.27 a barrel at 0223 GMT, after trading as high as $125.19 then dipping to $121.31.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 36 cents, or 0.3%, at $119.72 a barrel after also trading in a roughly $4 range.

The erratic moves came following a sharp run-up on Monday to near 14-year highs when the Biden Administration said it was talking to Britain, France and Germany about a ban on Russian oil.

"The price move up has been far too aggressive in too short a time. The charts are telling us the oil price needs to do some digesting before it can move substantially higher," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategy officer at Tiger Brokers Australia.

Keeping a lid on price gains, late on Monday officials said the United States was willing to move ahead with a ban alone, and Germany, the biggest buyer of Russian crude, rejected plans for an energy embargo.

(Reuters)