Brent Crude Oil Surges to Above $104

Brent crude oil soared as much as 6.5% to cross $104 a barrel in the early trading on Monday in Asia after Western nations imposed more sanctions on Russia raising fears of supply disruptions from one of the world’s largest producers of oil and gas.

As the conflict in Ukraine escalated after President Putin ordered Russia’s military advance to proceed during the weekend.

The G7 nations agreed to exclude major Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system and to target the Russian Central Bank’s international reserves.

Also, BP, the biggest foreign investor in Russia, said it was abandoning its stake in the state oil company Rosneft.