Crude oil prices remained on the front foot on Tuesday due to the Russia-Ukraine war and its impacts of global supplies. As of 1215 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $1.13 (+1.1 percent) to reach 103.45 a barrel. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, jumped to $99.50 a barrel, up by $0.96 (+0.97 percent). Both contracts settled down around 4 percent a day earlier on Monday. The price for Opec basket was recorded at $101.93 a barrel with a decrease of 5.32 percent. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of Saharan Blend, Girassol, Djeno, Zafiro, Rabi Light, Iran Heavy, Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider, Bonny Light, Arab Light, Murban and Merey. Arab Light was available at $108.90 a barrel with an increase of 0.74 percent and the price of Russian Sokol jumped to $94.56 a barrel with a 1.2 percent increase. Demand concerns in China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, added downward pressure on Tuesday. China’s capital Beijing has expanded its Covid-19 mass testing to much of the city of nearly 22 million, as the population braced for an imminent lockdown similar to Shanghai’s stringent curbs. But both Brent and WTI rose over $1 a barrel earlier in the session following a statement from the People’s Bank of China that it will step up monetary policy support to the real economy. The prospect of supply tightness in the physical market related to the phasing out of Russian oil provided price support. The parliamentary parties of Germany’s ruling coalition have called on the government to push ahead with a plan to phase out Russian oil and gas imports “as soon as possible”. Analysts said the release of oil from emergency reserves eased concerns over tight supply.