Oil Prices Level Out Amid Production Outages and Russia/Ukraine Escalations

Oil prices continued their volatile mid-morning on Tuesday, with Brent trading just above $73 per barrel—down $0.12 from yesterday’s close but up substantially from weekend levels. WTI was trading down $0.14 per barrel on the day at just above $69. Both benchmarks fell earlier in the day before rebounding slightly amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine and a production outage at Johan Sverdrup. On Monday, the war premium had returned to the oil markets after the Biden Administration handed Ukraine the green light to use…