Central banks are by definition lenders of last resort. At first blush, oil traders appear optimistic in asking for help from this source. The health of globe-trotting, private sector businesses such as Vitol and Glencore is not generally seen as crucial to financial stability.

But these are exceptional times. Up to a tenth of world oil is out of circulation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Energy prices are spiralling. Margin calls are hurting. Hedges may exceed the cost of the physical cargos they are designed to protect.

Gas futures linked to Dutch TTF, Europe’s wholesale gas price, are up as much as six-fold. Initial margins — once just a few percentage points of the underlying instrument — have spiralled as high as 80 per cent, traders say.