Oil hits two-month high on Opec cuts, Venezuela sanctions
The main drag on prices is the fear of a slowdown in demand this year, but this has been mitigated by the new round of Opec-led supply cuts in January
London — Oil hit a two-month high close to $64 a barrel on Monday as Opec-led supply cuts and US sanctions against Venezuela’s petroleum industry offset forecasts of weaker demand and an economic slowdown. Opec and its allies began a new round of supply cuts in January. These curbs, led by Saudi Arabia, have been compounded by involuntary losses that the Venezuelan sanctions could deepen. Brent crude, the global benchmark, hit $63.63 a barrel, the highest since December 7, and was up 66c at $63.41 as of 10.40am GMT. US crude hit a 2019 high of $55.75 and was later up 33c at $55.59. “You have the sanctions on Venezuela, on top of the reduced supply from Saudi Arabia,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. “There’s no sign of overhang in the crude oil markets.” Opec supply fell in January by the largest amount in two years, a Reuters survey last week found. That offset limited compliance with the output-cutting deal so far by non-Opec Russia. The US sanctions on Venezuela wi...
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