This corrects the percent change in Brent futures at 0.67%, and WTI futures at 0.86%.

The oil futures were up in the early trading hours of Thursday after the International Energy Agency said that a drop in oil demand as a result of rising prices will not compensate for a reduction in Russian oil supply.

Futures for the front-month rose 66c, or 0.677% to $98.68 per barrel at 1222 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), was up 84c, or 0.86% to $95.86 per barrel.

After an unexpected rise in stocks and signs that there had been progress in Russia-Ukraine peaceful talks, both contracts settled lower Wednesday. Brent fell 1.9% to $98.02/barrel, and crude oil in the United States had fallen 1.08% to $95.04/barrel.

The session opened higher after futures reacted to a report by the International Energy Agency, which stated that 3 million barrels per daily of Russian oil production could be cut-off due to Western sanctions. Also, Russian exports may be snubbed by buyers. This would result in a drop of 1 million barrels per day in oil demand, which is more than the 1,000,000 bpd reduction that was anticipated due to higher prices.

Edward Moya (OANDA senior market analyst) wrote, “Questions regarding the amount of Russian oil that will swing, and uncertainty about how severe crude demand destruction will get, will keep energy marketsjittery.”

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA), oil inventories increased by 4.3 Million barrels during the week of March 11, to 415.9million barrels. This is higher than analysts expected for an increase of 1.4 million barrels.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Wednesday move to hike interest rates one-quarter percent by default was not well received by the market.