Oil enjoys support from Opec cuts and US sanctions
Brent edges up amid supply cuts and sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran, but record US crude output and rising commercial fuel inventories cap gains
Singapore — Oil edged up on Thursday amid the Opec-led supply cuts and US sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran, although record US crude output and rising commercial fuel inventories prevented prices from rising further. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.45 a barrel at 2.34am GMT, up 23c, or 0.4%, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures were at $66.36 a barrel, up 37c, or 0.6%. Prices are being supported by efforts led by oil cartel Opec and other countries — a grouping known as OPEC-plus — to withhold about 1.2-million barrels a day, a strategy designed to tighten markets. “In our view, Opec’s strategy is to rebalance the market as quickly as possible and exit the cuts by the end of June in order to grow production alongside shale producers in the second half of this year,” US investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a note on Wednesday. US sanctions against the oil industries of Opec members Iran and Venezuela have also had an impact, tr...
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