This morning, oil prices showed a slight increase after volatile trading the day before, but later again corrected to decline.

Yesterday, the benchmark grades demonstrated active growth, the rise was up to 6%. However, in the evening quotations went down due to the strengthening of the dollar, which reduced the attractiveness of raw materials for investment by holders of other currencies.

The cost of May futures for Brent crude oil on the London exchange ICE Futures at 8:10 Moscow time was $109.47 per barrel, which is $0.14 (0.13%) higher than the closing price of the previous session. As of 8:32 Moscow time, the cost of Brent decreased by $0.76 and amounted to $108.57(-0.70%). At the end of trading on Thursday, these contracts fell in price by 1.6% to $109.33 per barrel.

The price of WTI crude oil futures for April at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by 8:10 Moscow time was $106.48 per barrel, which is $0.46 (0.43%) higher than the final value of the previous session. By 8:32 Moscow time, WTI oil had fallen by $0.37 to $1053.65 (-0.35%). The day before, the cost of these contracts fell by 2.5% – to $106.02 per barrel.

Market participants are focused on the situation in Ukraine and Washington’s decision to refuse to import Russian oil. Analysts fear that if most Western countries follow the United States and impose bans on oil supplies from Russia, quotes could exceed $200 per barrel, MarketWatch writes.

Russia “is a key factor” for the cost of oil, and Saudi Arabia remains the only country capable of increasing supplies to the global market in a short period of time, notes Tariq Zahir of Tyche Capital Advisors. However, the Saudis are “not answering our (U.S.) administration’s calls” for requests to increase supply, he added.

The price of WTI crude could easily reach or even exceed $130 a barrel if the situation in Eastern Europe worsens, Zahir said. Volatility will not leave the market, and prices may fluctuate around $8 per barrel during the day in response to incoming news, he said.