Oil prices edged higher on Friday as intensifying geopolitical tensions surrounding the Ukraine war heightened fears of potential disruptions to global crude supplies.
By 2:05 pm AEDT (3:05 am GMT) Brent crude futures climbed $0.36, or 0.5%, to US$74.37 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also gained $0.17, or 0.2%, reaching $70.27 per barrel.
The rise in oil prices followed Russian President Vladimir Putin's stark warnings of an expanding conflict after the U.S. and U.K. permitted Ukraine to use their missiles in strikes against Russian targets.
Putin stated that Russia had fired a hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile at a Ukrainian military facility in response, cautioning the West about potential retaliatory actions.
Ukraine's recent use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles has escalated hostilities. Ukraine has also targeted Russian oil infrastructure with drone strikes, including attacks on four Russian refineries in June.
Russia, one of the world's largest crude producers, continues to pump around nine million barrels daily despite sanctions and OPEC+ production cuts.
On the data front, swelling U.S. crude and gasoline inventories limited gains, as government data on Wednesday revealed a 545,000-barrel increase in U.S. crude stocks, reaching 430.3 million barrels, while gasoline inventories grew by 2.1 million barrels to 208.9 million for the week ending 15 November.