(RTTNews) – Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Tuesday, extending a recent surge amid rising geopolitical risk-premiums as rising tensions between the US and Iran have stoked production and supply concerns.
WTI crude oil for February delivery was last seen trading up $1.55 (or 2.61%) at $61.05 a barrel.
From December 2025, angered by the ruling regime’s inability to handle rising prices and decline in the Iranian rial, citizens in Iran protested against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and demanded his removal.
Protests are spreading across the country by the day, with thousands of people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters.
The insurgency continues in the country due to internet blackout, due to which the world is not able to get an accurate picture of the clashes.
US President Donald Trump, who previously warned Iran not to use violence against protesters, is reportedly planning military intervention.
Additionally, Trump threatened countries that trade with Iran to impose 25% tariffs on their imports into the US.
After removing President Nicolas Maduro from power and extraditing him to the US, where he faces serious criminal charges, Trump held a high-profile meeting with senior executives of major US and European energy companies.
Trump urged them to invest about $100 billion in Venezuela to revive the country’s oil industry.
Despite Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods saying Venezuela is “not worth investing in” right now, Trump is urging him to seize the opportunity.
Experts have warned that the pace, scale and continuity of Venezuela’s increased supplies may not be what Trump had envisioned.
In the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Russia attacked the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and launched a separate missile attack on Kiev.
A revised 20-point peace proposal drafted by the US is awaiting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval, although Ukraine has given it the go-ahead.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was now up to Russia to show it was interested in peace.
Crude oil production from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz, Karachaganak and Kashagan projects is facing disruptions following a series of drone attacks on their oil tankers near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
OPEC output fell 100,000 barrels per day in December as crude supplies from Iran and Venezuela fell by an estimated 70,000 bpd, according to a Reuters survey, and output in December averaged 28.40 million bpd, down from November’s revised number.
This significant decline comes despite the coalition’s unanimous decision to increase production for December.
In the US today, Automated Data Processing data showed that private employers added an average of 11,750 jobs per week for the four weeks ending December 20, 2025, up from an average gain of 11,000 during the previous period.
Data shows that employment generation is happening positively but at a slow pace.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that month-on-month core consumer prices in the US, (which do not include food and energy) for December 2025 rose 0.2% from the previous month, slightly below the average market expectation of a 0.3% increase.
The annual core consumer price inflation rate, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, was 2.6% in December 2025.
Consumer prices rose 0.3% month-on-month in December, in line with market expectations. It is worth noting that due to the ongoing shutdown at that time, data for the months of October and November were not available.
The annual inflation rate in the US stood at 2.7% in December 2025, which is once again in line with market expectations.
The US Dollar Index was last seen trading at 99.14 today, up 0.28 (or 0.28%).
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