Oil prices surged over 7% on Tuesday to their highest since 2014, as a global agreement to release crude reserves failed to calm fears about supply disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes the United States and Japan, agreed to release 60 million barrels of crude from their reserves to try to quell the sharp increase in prices that pushed major benchmarks past $100 a barrel.
However, news of that release – equivalent to less than one day of worldwide oil consumption – only magnified the market’s fear that supply will be inadequate to cover growing disruptions.
