Oil prices surpassed US$110 per barrel as Western powers agreed to release 60 million barrels in reserves.
The price of brent crude rose 5% to US$110.23 overnight, pushing it to a seven-year high as the security of Russian oil turned increasingly precarious.
Led by the US, members of the International Energy Agency agreed to the release of 60mln barrels of strategic oil reserves in an attempt to stabilize markets, with the US releasing 30mln from Texas.
“The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
“Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery.”
The IEA said the released reserves, equivalent to 12 days of Russia’s exports, accounted for 4% of members’ emergency oil stockpiles of 1.5bn barrels.
But the move failed to quell sell-off in US markets, with the Dow Jones down 1.76% in trading yesterday.