Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
The Brent crude oil price has blasted past $111 a barrel, its highest level since early July 2014, despite a decision by the United States to release, with its allies, about 60m barrels from their strategic reserves, in an attempt to stabilise global energy markets. US light crude has also jumped more than 6%, to $109.48 a barrel, its highest since September 2013.
The oil cartel Opec will hold a meeting today to discuss production plans. So far, the cartel confirmed that it remained committed to the Opec+ deal with Russia, and is not expected to change production plans despite the war in Ukraine.
The American oil giant Exxon Mobil announced yesterday that it would exit its Russian operations, including oil production fields, following similar moves by British companies BP and Shell, and Norway’s…
