Oil prices extended gains for a third session on Monday, with Brent rising above $81 a barrel to its highest in more than four months, as wider U.S. sanctions are expected to affect Russian crude exports to top buyers China and India.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has denounced U.S. sanctions against Moscow's energy sector and said the country would carry on with large oil and gas projects.

The White House, now unconcerned about the effect on gas prices and inflation, blacklisted two of Russia’s biggest oil producers and nearly 200 tanker ships.

Oil prices extended gains for a third session on Monday, with Brent rising above $81 a barrel to its highest in more than four months, as wider U.S. sanctions are expected to affect Russian crude exports to top buyers China and India.

The Biden administration has imposed some of its toughest sanctions yet on Russia, in a move designed to hit Moscow's energy revenue that is fuelling its war in Ukraine. The measures target more than 200 entities and individuals ranging from traders and officials to insurance companies, as well as hundreds of oil tankers.

The Group of Seven democracies have sought to crimp Russia’s oil export earnings that help fund the war against Ukraine

Oil prices hit their highest level in more than three months on Monday's open, extending their rally on expectations that wider U.S. sanctions will affect Russian crude supplies to the world's top and third largest importers China and India.