WTI – Brent oil prices have been skyrocketing since the war in Ukraine. When the Biden administration imposed a ban on Russian oil as part of the US sanctions on Russia for the war, investors have been anxious that oil prices could go up even higher.

On Wednesday, a statement made by an OPEC member spurred the oil prices to cool down a bit. WTI crude oil plummeted more than 12% to settle at around $98 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil prices dropped 13% to $103, the biggest day drop since April 2020.

The United Arab Emirates made a statement on Thursday indicating that it supports increasing oil supply and will convince OPEC to boost its supply.

“We favour production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels. The UAE has been a reliable and responsible supplier of energy to global markets for more than 50 years and believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy,” Al Otaiba, the current UAE Ambassador to the US, stated.

The oil cartel OPEC member’s announcement is a relief to many investors. Russia, the producer of about 7% of global supplies and the second largest exporter of crude oil, can no longer export crude and oil products to the US, as announced by the Biden Administration on March 8. In the meantime, the UK announced on the same day that the country will phase out the imports by the end of 2022. Oil prices settled about 4% higher on the announcement.