2023.03.2710:16:00UTC+00Oil Prices Trade Higher On Supply Worries

Oil prices traded higher on Monday amid supply worries after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that he will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbor and ally Belarus.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.7 percent to $75.14 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.7 percent at $69.73.

Analysts said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus at a time of growing tensions with the West is aimed at sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine. NATO has criticized Putin's "dangerous" nuclear rhetoric.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

Traders also took comfort from news that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.

Earlier, the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council said the U.S. banking system was "sound and resilient" despite stress on some institutions.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Friday that the stress in the banking sector will abate, and the Fed needs to push interest rates higher than previously expected.

Deutsche Bank remains profitable and there's no reason to doubt its future, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday during a news conference in Brussels.