Oil climbs as US escalates measures against Venezuelan tankers

Oil prices rose on Monday after officials said the United States had intercepted an oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, raising concerns over potential supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures climbed 52 cents, or 0.86%, to $60.99 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 50 cents, or 0.88%, to $57.02 per barrel.

June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities, said the market is beginning to realize that the Trump administration is adopting a tougher stance toward Venezuelan oil trade. Venezuelan crude accounts for about 1% of global supply.

Goh added that oil prices have received support from these geopolitical developments, alongside ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the background, despite a market with clearly bearish underlying fundamentals.

US officials told Reuters on Sunday that the US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, in what would be the second such operation over the weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.

Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said the rebound in oil prices was driven by President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “full and comprehensive blockade” on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and subsequent developments, in addition to reports of a Ukrainian drone strike targeting a vessel within Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” in the Mediterranean Sea.

Both Brent and WTI crude fell by about 1% last week.

In a related development, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks held over the past three days in Florida between officials from the United States, Europe, and Ukraine, as part of efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, focused on aligning positions. He added that those meetings, along with separate talks with Russian negotiators, were productive.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief foreign policy adviser said that amendments introduced by Europe and Ukraine to US proposals did not improve the prospects for reaching peace.