Oil futures surged in early trade on Tuesday as the prospect of more sanctions in response to alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine heightened fears about supply interruptions, while Iran nuclear talks paused, reported Reuters.

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Brent crude futures were up $1.58, or 1.5%, to $109.11 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.61, or 1.6%, to $104.89 a barrel in the United States.

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Both contracts momentarily increased by more than $2 per barrel after Japanese Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda stated that the International Energy Agency (IEA) was still hammering out terms for a scheduled second batch of coordinated oil releases.

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Futures were up more than 3% on Monday, owing to the potential of further sanctions on Russia and a halt in Vienna on talks to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal, which might bring more Iranian barrels into the market. Iran accused the US of halting the negotiations.

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Consultancy Wood Mackenzie indicated on Monday that EU members and advanced countries such as Japan and South Korea could “swap” around 650,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil of comparable grades and volumes. These would mostly come from Middle Eastern volumes that China and India generally acquire.

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In an unusual move spurred by the huge discount given, India’s state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. bought 1 million barrels of Russian Urals for May loading, according to Reuters.

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“Global crude oil trade will rebalance by ‘crude swapping’ between ‘self-sanctioning’ advanced economies and developing markets,” said Alex Sun, a managing consultancy for Wood Mackenzie, noting that a steep discount for Russian Urals barrels has created a buying opportunity for China to fill declining strategic reserves.