Shares in major oil stocks gushed higher today as Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil sites heightened supply fears.
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Prices Aided By Attacks
Brent Crude futures rose 1.5% to $63.84 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures climbed 1.9% to $59.65 a barrel.
BP (BP) was up 0.64% in pre-market trading, Shell (SHEL) was 0.3% higher and Chevron (CVX) rose 0.6%.
The price shot higher after a Saturday attack by Ukrainian naval drones on two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea. The tankers were reportedly empty at the time of attack, sailing towards Novorossiysk, a major Russian Black Sea oil terminal.
This follows the move by Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which moves more than 1% of global oil, to halt operations recently when a mooring at its Black Sea terminal was damaged in a separate Ukrainian drone attack.
These supply fears came on top of the decision by the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations yesterday to keep their production plans unchanged. There are also fears over potential U.S. military action in major oil state Venezuela.
Potential Supply Glut
“The cartel is planning to keep production on hold during the first quarter of 2026 to help balance demand and supply and stem further weakness in the market,” said Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment, interactive investor. “Oil traders are weighing up concerns about a potential supply glut, partly fuelled by weak global demand on the downside versus the conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions constraining supply on the upside.”
Oil prices have come under sustained pressure in recent months, logging a fourth consecutive monthly decline in November after the International Energy Agency projected a record surplus in 2026. Brent crude is down 16% so far this year – see the chart below:
Stephen Innes, at SPI Asset Management, said the OPEC+ announcement “marks a subtle but important shift: after releasing roughly 2.9 million barrels per day back into the market since April 2025, the coalition has decided that regaining market share is less urgent than preserving what’s left of the price floor.”
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