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Oil prices surged on Thursday as fresh sanctions on Russian energy giants roiled global supply chains.

Brent crude futures jumped 4.97% to $65.70, while WTI climbed 5.33% to $61.62, following a report by news agency Reuters that Chinese state-owned oil companies have suspended purchases of seaborne Russian oil in response to new US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil.

The US restrictions target Moscow's two largest oil companies as part of its measures against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The fallout is immediate — China and India, Russia's top buyers, are expected to sharply cut crude imports from Moscow to comply with the sanctions.

A drop in demand from these two markets threatens to strain Russia's oil

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