(RTTNews) – Crude oil rose on Friday amid near-term supply concerns due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, a decline in US stockpiles and OPEC’s decision to halt production growth, extending yesterday’s sharp gains.
WTI crude oil for February delivery was last seen trading $1.58 (or 2.74%) higher at $59.34 a barrel.
Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces last Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced that the US would have full access to Venezuela’s rich oil resources.
Trump announced that Venezuela would hand over up to 50 million barrels and said that US control over Venezuela could extend for more than a year.
The US seized two oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to Venezuela, one of which was flying the Russian flag.
Trump is set to meet today with high-level representatives from oil giants Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Shell and others to discuss potential investments in Venezuela’s energy sector.
In Iran, as civil unrest that began in Tehran about 12 days ago began spreading to other cities, Trump announced that the US was monitoring the situation and said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was “looking at going somewhere.”
Trump warned the regime not to resort to violent means to crush the protesters and said that if it did, the US would hit them “very hard”.
Experts believe regime change may finally be on the way at one of OPEC’s biggest crude suppliers.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced that Trump had approved the “Russia Sanctions Bill”, which recommends a massive “500% tariff” on imports of “all goods and services” from countries that buy petroleum and uranium products from Russia.
China and India, the biggest buyers of Russian oil, are going to suffer huge losses.
On Wednesday, US inventory data showed that crude oil stockpiles fell by 3.83 million barrels last week, exceeding market expectations and indicating strong demand conditions.
The OPEC+ alliance has confirmed its decision to pause production growth as early as 2026, driven by additional supply concerns arising from projected higher output from non-OPEC countries.
Data released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an increase of 50,000 jobs in December 2025 (down from a forecast of 60,000), down from a revised 56,000 jobs in November.
According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, investors are now betting on a 95.0% chance of the US Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged at its upcoming January 27-28 meeting.
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