European Oil and Cyberattacks

European natural gas futures popped on Thursday amid intensification of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Russia claims to have destroyed Kyivs biggest power plant in an overnight missile strike. The attack has so far led to power cuts in the Ukrainian capital and some regions that rely on power from Kyiv.

Central Banks are reluctant to start cutting rates amid another increase in energy-related inflation. The latest U.S. consumer price index revealed an increase of 3.5% for March on an annual basis. The International Energy Agency is publishing its own monthly report today to counter the growing fears of a shortage with its demand growth forecast.

The recent oil price rally was held back this week by rising inventories and concerns that the Fed may postpone its interest rate cuts, but geopolitical risks could yet spark another upward movement. The EIA says US natural gas will be cheaper to burn than coal for the first time on record as Henry Hub forecast averages only $2.15 per mmBtu.

Crude prices dipped slightly as oil market awaits fallout from Iran's strike on Isarel. Brent futures for June dipped 0.2%, to reach $90.25 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for May delivery went down 0.4% to $85.33 a barrel.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian drones have attacked over two dozen Russian oil refineries and several oil depots in the first sustained campaign against Russias oil product producing facilities. Experts say the attacks are unlikely to affect the military campaign in Ukraine or the economy, as Russia still has sufficient refinery capacity out of reach of Ukraines drones to meet military and industrial demand.

Financial markets nervous amid Middle East tensions; oil price falls business live. Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Brent crude dips to $90 per barrel. Many Asia-Pacific stock markets have fallen into the red, with Japans Nikkei losing almost 1% today. FTSE 100 down 42 points, down 0.5%, at 7953 points, dragged down by losses among oil companies BP and Shell. EasyJet is now the top riser on Londons stock market, up 1.7%.

Ukraine has escalated its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries since the beginning of the year in an effort to cripple Russia's economy and constrain fuel supplies to its military. Experts who spoke to The Moscow Times agree that their impact on the Russian economy has so far been negligible. However, they said Russia's energy infrastructure is becoming increasingly vulnerable to these inexpensive, difficult-to-intercept attacks. Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian energy infrastructure has been attacked over 37 times.

Andriy Kobolyev says Russia is trying to wage a global energy war and Ukraine is part of that war. He said there would be no point holding any more Ukraine reconstruction conferences until Ukraine is supplied with weapons to save its energy infrastructure from the wave of attacks by Iranian-made Shahed drones and guided bombs. Last week a massive missile and drone attack destroyed one of Ukraines largest power plants.

NATO chief Stoltenberg supports Ukraine's right to strike Russian military targets abroad. US warns that attacking oil refineries could disrupt global energy markets. Russian losses exceed 450,000 troops. Russia aims to recruit 400,000 contract soldiers in 2024. Russia plans to increase the size of its armed forces to 1.32 million this year.

Europe joins US in urging restraint by Israel after Iranian attack Israels. European allies urge it on Monday to show restraint over Iran's weekend missile and drone attack. Israel's war cabinet, which is empowered to decide on the countrys response, was set to convene on Monday. Israeli officials said the war cabinet favoured retaliation but was divided over the timing and scale of any such response.