Oil prices rose on Monday after officials said the United States (US) had intercepted an oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, raising fresh supply uncertainty.
Brent crude futures gained 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.04 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 55 cents, or 1.0%, to $57.07.
“The market is waking up to the fact that the President Donald Trump administration is taking a hardline approach to the Venezuelan oil trade,” said June Goh, Senior Oil Market analyst at Sparta Commodities.
“Oil prices have thus been supported by this geopolitical news alongside the simmering Russian-Ukraine tensions in the background in an otherwise very bearish market fundamentally,” said Goh.
The US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, in what would be the second such operation over the weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful, officials told Reuters on Sunday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A rebound in oil prices has been sparked by geopolitical developments starting with Trump’s announcement of a “total and complete” blockade on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and subsequent developments there, followed by reports of a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
–Reuters–
