Crude oil prices rose to $90 a barrel on Wednesday, near the highest level in seven years, following escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia and limited production, Reuters reports.

On the ICE Futures exchange, the price of a barrel of Brent oil in the North Sea, delivered in March, rose by $0.61, or 0.70%, to $88.81. As of January 20, the price had reached $89.50, the highest level since October 2014.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the price of a barrel of light sweet crude oil delivered in March fell by $0.25, or 0.3%, to $85.85.

“Market developments are limited by escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the threats facing the United Arab Emirates,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa of Nissan Securities.

Market investors are also waiting for possible measures to be announced after the US Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Analysts estimate that the Fed will indicate that it intends to raise interest rates in March in the context of high inflation, according to Agerpres.

Investors are also waiting for the February 2 meeting of the OPEC + group (composed of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting States and other major producers), which could consider another increase in production.

Crude oil prices rose by 50% last year amid coal and gas shortages, and the trend will continue this year, analysts say, and lack of production capacity and limited investment in the sector could drive Brent crude oil prices up to $100.

OPEC expects global oil demand to rise by 4.15 million barrels a day in 2022 to 100.8 million bpd in 2019.

The price of a barrel of Brent oil, a benchmark in Europe, rose 52% in 2021 to $ 77.78, while the price of Texas intermediate oil rose 55% to $ 75.21.