2025-12-01T05:27:06+00:00
Shafaq News
Oil prices rose on Monday after OPEC+ members reaffirmed a
plan to hold output steady, as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium halted exports
after a major drone attack and U.S.-Venezuela tensions raised concerns about
supply.
Brent crude futures advanced $1.01, or 1.62%, to $63.39 a
barrel at 0401 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1, or 1.71%, to
$59.55.
Both contracts settled down on Friday for the fourth
straight month, their longest losing streak since 2023, as expectations for
higher global supply weighed on prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
its allies initially agreed on a pause in early November, slowing a push to
regain market share with looming fears of a supply glut.
After a meeting on Sunday, OPEC+ said it “reaffirmed
the importance of adopting a cautious approach and retaining full flexibility
to continue pausing or reverse the additional voluntary production
adjustments.”
The move was widely expected by market participants.
LSEG senior analyst Anh Pham said the market this morning
reacted positively to the news.
“For some time, the narrative has centered on an oil
glut, so OPEC+’s decision to maintain its production target provided some
relief and helped stabilize expectations for supply growth in the coming
months.”
On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump said “the
airspace above and surrounding Venezuela” should be considered closed,
sparking fresh uncertainty in the oil market, as the South American nation is a
major producer.
Trump on Sunday said he spoke with Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro but did not give details. He also did not expand on his airspace
comments or say whether they signalled coming military strikes.
“Don’t read anything into it,” Trump said.
In a client note, ING analysts wrote that “supply risks
increase following additional Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy
infrastructure and an escalation in tensions between the U.S. and
Venezuela.”
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which has Russian, Kazakh
and U.S. shareholders, on Saturday said it halted operations after a mooring at
its Russian terminal on the Black Sea was damaged by a Ukrainian drone.
The consortium handles more than 1% of global oil.
In Europe, increasing uncertainty around a Russia-Ukraine
peace deal reversed the bearish sentiment of the past two weeks, when a peace
deal looked closer and raised the prospect of large volumes of Russian oil
flooding the market.
Ukraine’s military, via social media, on Saturday said it
had hit a Russian oil refinery as well as the Beriev military aviation plant in
the Rostov region.
(Reuters)
Only the headline is edited by Shafaq News Agency.
