Singapore — Oil prices rose on Wednesday as US sanctions against crude exporters Iran and Venezuela as well as supply cuts by producers have left markets relatively tight just as crude imports to China rose to a record for April. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.90 a barrel at 4.51am GMT on Wednesday, 80c, or 0.8%, above their last settlement. Brent crude oil futures were at $70.29 a barrel, 41c, or 0.6%, above their last close. With US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in place, analysts said global oil markets remained tight. “The tight and price-supportive fundamental outlook has not gone away,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Denmark’s Saxo Bank. China’s crude oil imports in April rose a record for the month of 10.64-million barrels a day, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs released on Wednesday. That is an 11% rise from the same month in 2018. The country is the world’s largest oil importer. China’s import...
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