Oil prices spiked 5 percent Wednesday after disruptions to Kazakh crude exports and growing apprehension regarding European Union sanctions on Russian energy imports as the U.S. president meets with counterparts on the continent amid worsening conflict in Ukraine. Brent has since stabilized after opening Thursday at $117.20 a barrel and trading at $117.58 as of 6:13 a.m. EDT. Wednesday’s rally was driven mostly by adverse climate-related supply disruptions at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline and the aftereffect considerations of sanctions on energy-dependent Europe. The CPC supplies around 1.2 percent of global demand or 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) while Russia exports 4–5 million bpd, the second-largest crude exporter in the world after Saudi Arabia. Analysts are worried about how supply deficiencies could be mitigated if further sanctions are placed on Russia. Saudi Arabia has maintained its stance regarding increasing oil output and claimed that the country bears no …