Oil prices rise on OPEC supply cuts, Venezuela sanctions

Wednesday,   13-Feb-2019   09:01 AM (IST)

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as producer club OPEC said it had cut supply deeply in January and as U.S. sanctions hit Venezuela's oil exports. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $53.60 per barrel at 0219 GMT, up 50 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last close. International Brent crude futures were up 0.8 percent, or 51 cents, at $62.93 per barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which Saudi Arabia de-facto leads as the world's top crude oil exporter, said on Tuesday that it had cut its output by almost 800,000 bpd in January to 30.81 million bpd. Supply issues in Venezuela, another OPEC member, are also bolstering oil prices as the South American country suffers a political and economic crisis, with Washington introducing petroleum export sanctions against state-owned energy firm PDVSA. Despite the political rifts between Venezuela and the United States, U.S. refiners have in the past been some of the biggest buyers of Venezuelan crude. These customers have fallen away after Washington imposed sanctions earlier this year. Venezuela has tried to find alternative customers, especially in Asia, but under U.S. pressure many buyers there are also shying away from dealing with PDVSA. Despite the OPEC cuts and crisis in Venezuela, analysts said global oil markets remain well supplied.