Oil rises as US expands Venezuela tanker blockade
Oil prices climbed as President Donald Trump escalated the blockade on Venezuela, with US forces boarding one tanker and pursuing another just weeks after seizing an initial vessel.
Brent crude (BZ=F) rose to around $61 a barrel following two weeks of declines, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) traded near $57, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
The US Coast Guard boarded the Centuries tanker in the Caribbean on Saturday, which was carrying approximately 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude. Authorities are also tracking the Bella 1, another tanker heading to Venezuela.
The Trump administration has been intensifying pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s government in an effort to cut off its primary revenue source. The US has designated Maduro’s regime as a foreign terrorist organization, citing involvement in drug trafficking. Although Venezuela holds the world’s largest crude reserves, its oil exports—primarily to China—now make up less than 1% of global demand.
Tensions over oil supplies also increased elsewhere after Ukraine struck a Russian oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea using drones, marking the first such attack on Russia’s shadow fleet. This followed attacks on Lukoil PJSC facilities in the Caspian Sea.
The geopolitical situation has helped put a floor under oil prices, which have dropped by about a fifth this year. The declines have been driven by an oversupply as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies restored production faster than expected, while producers outside the cartel pumped more, and demand remained lackluster.
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