Energy prices surge as Russian invasion of Ukraine stokes fears of global shortages
Oil and gas prices surged on Thursday and global stock markets fell sharply after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Brent crude hit $105 a barrel for the first time since August 2014, following a rise of more than 8% on international energy markets. The increase signalled a further rise on garage forecourts to record-breaking retail price for unleaded petrol of more than £1.55 a litre.
The price of British gas for next-day delivery jumped 40% to £280 per therm as the invasion stoked fears of a disruption to global energy supplies.
There was a broad sell-off of shares across Europe, and banks with big operations in Russia were especially hard hit following moves by governments across the continent and in the UK to impose sanctions on Russian banks and wealthy Russian individuals.
The FTSE 100 in London fell almost 250 points to 7,257, or 3.2%, by late morning on Thursday, while Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and Italy’s FTSE MIB were all down 5%, while Russia’s MOEX plunged 33% when trading was resumed following a temporary suspension.
Thirty-one Russian companies are traded on the London Stock Exchange. State-owned banks Sberbank and VTB, along with state-backed oil and gas producers Gazprom and Rosneft have secondary listings in the UK while their primary listings remain in Moscow.
Sberbank lost 75% of its value and VTB fell almost 22%. Gazprom, the mainly state-owned Russian energy company that trades some of its shares in London, was down 36%. Rosneft, the oil major which is 20%-owned by BP, dropped 23% and Lukoil has down nearly 44%.
The Anglo-Russian miner Polymetal was the top faller on the FTSE 100, down 37%, with the Russian mining group Evraz in second place, down nearly 30%.
Russ Mould, investment director at the
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