Overnight, the Russia kicked off to his attack on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s threats have unfortunately turned into reality. The world wonders what will happen now and on how this crisis scenario will evolve and on the consequences not only for those who are dramatically experiencing the conflict firsthand but also those that will affect the financial markets.
THE BRENT RUNS
Already in the morning the effects of the crisis on the financial markets were felt with the stock markets in sharp decline and with the oil prices which have continued to rise. As we write, the quotation of brent it reached 105.04 dollars a barrel. These are values that have not been seen since 2014. Obviously there are great concerns about the new increases in the cost of fuel at a time when both petrol and diesel have already reached values that have not been seen for several years.
The average price recorded by Quotidiano Energia for petrol in self-service mode is today equal to 1,859 euros per liter, 1,733 euros that of diesel. However, there are already several reports of prices over 2 euros per liter for gasoline even if we are talking about “served” prices (the average served however is 1,992 euros per liter as reported by Quotidiano Energia). The average diesel served reached 1,870 euros per liter.
The new price increases brought about by the Russia-Ukraine crisis could bring the fuel prices even higher and weigh like boulders for the budgets of families and companies. This is a clearly alarming scenario. Obviously, everything will depend on the evolution of the crisis. If after an initial phase the tensions were to ease, prices could stabilize even if they would always remain high.
If, on the other hand, the situation were to worsen further with the interruption of supplies by Russia, prices could rise again, leading to a further slowdown of the European economy as explained by Davide Tabarelli, president of Nomisma Energia, on a fanpage.
If the conflict were to worsen further, in fact, the West could, as it has already threatened, impose a series of sanctions on Russia which in turn could react by cutting off supplies of oil, gas and other raw materials. Recall that Russia is the second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. The financial market, therefore, fears that energy could become a new center of the conflict given that Russia has the power to heavily influence prices, leading to a real energy crisis.
