Breaking Update: Here’s a clear explanation of the latest developments related to Breaking News:Oil up on news the US intercepted an oil tanker off Venezuela– What Just Happened and why it matters right now.
SINGAPORE, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday after officials said the U.S. 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 by 0751 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 55 cents, or 1.0%, to $57.07.
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“The market is waking up to the fact that the 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 market is losing hope that the U.S.-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace talks will reach a lasting agreement any time soon,” he said.
“These developments are helping to offset ongoing oversupply concerns, and combined with the false break lower last week which has caught the market on the wrong foot, the balance of risks is very close to shifting back toward the upside in crude oil.”
Brent and WTI fell about 1% last week after dropping about 4% in the week of December 8.
However, the top foreign policy aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that changes made by the Europeans and Ukraine to U.S. proposals had not improved prospects for peace.
Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore, Sam Li and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Sonali Paul, Neil Fullick and Michael Perry
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