Oil prices rose yesterday, increasing Brent crude above $90 per barrel for the first time in 7 years amid tensions between Russia and the West

This comes despite signs that the United States Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy. Oil was traded at its highest level in 7 years at about $90 per barrel, as the Ukraine crisis boosted prices.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 6 cents or 0.1 percent to $90.02 per barrel West Texas Intermediate crude futures two years to $87.33 per barrel.

Russia, the world's second-largest oil producer, is facing off with the West over Ukraine, raising fears that crude supplies to Europe will be disrupted.

Market attention is focused on the February 2 meeting of the OPEC Group, which includes OPEC along with other producers, including Russia.

The group is likely to commit to its plans to increase the target level of oil production in March.

OPEC has been increasing its production target every month since August by 400,000 barrels per day gradually abandoning a record production cut in 2020.

However, the Group faced the challenges of available productive capacity, which prevented some members from increasing production according to their quotas.

However, the increase in crude and gasoline stocks in the United States has somewhat eased supply concerns.

Gasoline stocks increased by 1.3 million barrels, the largest increase since February 2021.