WTI is on a rampage as Russia threatened to shake up the natural gas market

• WTI breaks to fresh daily highs in Asian markets. 
• There is an immense scale of supply disruption facing energy markets.

WTI is making fresh highs for the week at $116.61 with energy markets leading the broader commodity sector higher as Russia threatened to shake up the natural gas market. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia will insist that "unfriendly countries" pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles going forward, according to reports. Putin explained that it "made no sense" to supply Russian goods to the European Union and the United States and receive payment in euros, dollars and a number of other currencies.

''While it named the US, UK and members of the European Union as such, it said it will continue to supply gas in line with requests. Germany said the shift to roubles is a breach of contract, while Italy said it’s not inclined to pay in that currency,'' analysts at ANZ Bank explained.

''This comes as the US and European nations meet to discuss further action aimed at enhancing energy security in the region. The parties are working on an agreement that would aim to ensure a supply of US LNG and hydrogen to EU member states which would allow it to diversify away from Russia energy.''

''The moves in gas markets spilled over into the rest of the energy market with crude oil rising sharply. Markets were roiled on reports that a major Black Sea oil export terminal halted loadings and faces weeks of disruptions.''

Meanwhile, analysts at TD Securities explained an immense scale of supply disruption facing energy markets:

''Energy traders are both stockpiling and bidding up cargoes in anticipation of disruptions, reflecting an elevated convenience yield associated with holding the physical commodity, as the world is short of substitutes.''

''After all, effective spare capacity across OPEC+ is stretched thin, while OECD inventories reach their lowest since the Arab Spring and US shale's position as a swing producer is constrained by a growing focus on ESG along with supply chain bottlenecks in energy equipment and labour. In this context, a disruption of oil flows from Kazakhstan's Black Sea export terminal may result in weeks of additional disruptions.''