Oil markets breathe a ‘sigh of relief’ after Russian mutiny was aborted

Oil prices pared early gains on Monday, tracking a broader calm in financial markets as investors watched warily to see if there’ll be further fallout from an attempted insurrection in Russia that could disrupt energy supplies from one of the world’s largest oil producer nations.

Mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner group of private militia, marched toward Moscow on Saturday, in what was seen as the biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s 23-year grip on power.

The militia group reportedly took control of southern city of Rostov-on-Don — where several major oil and gas pipelines intersect — before the armed rebellion was abruptly called off, less than 24 hours after it began.

“Collectively the world would have breathed a sigh of relief at least on the oil market side that the disruption in the Russian state did not go through the worst that people feared,” Alok Sinha, Standard Chartered global head of oil & gas and chemicals, told CNBC Monday.

contributed to this report.