Why oil’s rally after Russia’s ‘Pearl Harbor’ moment may be short-lived

Commodities Corner

Crude prices climb after Ukraine’s attack despite OPEC+ production hike

Published: June 2, 2025 at 3:22 p.m. ET

Geopolitical shocks have a knack for roiling the financial markets, but the oil sector was still caught off guard by a surprise attack by Ukraine that has been referred to as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor,” and which led to an unexpected rally in crude prices that some analysts believe is doomed to be short-lived.

The upward move in prices came during the same weekend that OPEC+ announced a decision to speed up its production increase for a third month in a row. Some analysts had expected to see oil move lower in the wake of that decision, but that was before Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian air-force bases that damaged or destroyed bombers used by Russia for missile attacks and potential nuclear strikes, according to the Wall Street Journal.