U.S. oil shows weekly gains amid rising tensions in Venezuela

Reuters reported this in an article, according to Ukrinform.

Brent crude fell 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $63.12 per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.49 a barrel, although logging a weekly gain of about 1.6% and marking a second straight week of increase.

"The market weighs the impact of lower CPC exports and some positive news on the demand side, with a possible Fed rate cut in talk," said LSEG senior research analyst Anh Pham, referring to lower shipments of Kazakh oil after a drone attack on the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).

According to him, supply factors remain in focus. "A peace deal with Russia would bring more barrels to the market and likely push prices down. On the other hand, any geopolitical escalation will drive prices higher. OPEC+ has agreed to keep production steady until early next year, so it adds some support for prices too," Pham added.

This week, prices rose also due to the failure of U.S. negotiations in Moscow, which did not produce any significant breakthroughs regarding the war in Ukraine, the outlet notes.

Markets are preparing for a potential U.S. military invasion of Venezuela after President Donald Trump said late last week that the United States would take action to stop Venezuelan drug traffickers on the ground "very soon."

Rystad Energy stated that this could threaten the supply of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day that Venezuela exports mainly to China.

As Ukrinform reported, oil prices fell on December 3 as traders awaited the results of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which could increase supply, while concerns about a potential surplus grew amid rising U.S. inventories.

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