Oil prices could soar 240% to $380 a barrel if Russia cut production in response to Western plans to cap the country’s energy prices, JPMorgan has warned.
G7 leaders last week announced they were working on plans to cap the price of Russian oil in an effort to keep up the pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
JPMorgan’s analysts said in a note this weekend that Russia is in a strong position following the recent surge in oil and natural gas prices.
Moscow could retaliate against the G7 price cap and slash its oil production by as much as 5 million barrels per day without causing excessive damage to its economy, JPMorgan said.
Such a slash would dramatically hit the global oil markets, given the supply and demand mismatch that has already sent the Brent crude price up almost 50% this year to around $112 a barrel.
“The most extreme scenario of a 5 million barrel per day slash in production could drive oil prices to a stratospheric $380 a barrel,” JPMorgan’s analysts, led by Natasha Kaneva, said in the note.