Oil spikes to three-month high, sending energy stocks higher
Oil prices surged more than 4%, with Brent front-month futures breaking above $80 per barrel for the first time since October and West Texas Intermediate prices also at a three-month high.
Energy is far and away the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF as of 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, up more than 1%. Noteworthy gainers include Exxon, Devon Energy, and EOG Resources.
The price spike comes amid a report from Reuters that the US is planning more sanctions against Russian oil that would disrupt flows to the Indian and Chinese markets.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine caused immense upheaval in global energy markets. One side effect was that Indian imports from Russia surged, as the country’s refineries effectively became a work-around to process crude that was off-limits to much of the world.