(RTTNews) – Extending yesterday’s sharp gains, crude oil surged on Friday amid near-term supply concerns due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, a decline in U.S. inventories, and OPEC’s decision to pause output increases.
WTI Crude Oil for February delivery was last seen trading up by $1.58 (or 2.74%) at $59.34 per barrel.
Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces last Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would have full access to Venezuela’s rich oil resources.
Trump announced that Venezuela would hand over as many as 50 million barrels and added that U.S. control over Venezuela could extend for more than a year.
The U.S. seized two oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean linked to Venezuela, including one flying a Russian flag.
Trump is set to discuss potential investments in the energy sector of Venezuela today with high-level representatives of oil giants Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Shell, and others.
In Iran, as the civil unrest that started in Tehran around 12 days ago started to spread to other cities, Trump announced that the U.S. is following the situation and added that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “looking to go someplace.”
Trump warned the regime not to resort to violent methods to crush the demonstrators and said if it happens, the U.S. will hit them “very hard.”
Experts feel that regime change could eventually happen in one of the biggest crude oil suppliers in OPEC.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced that Trump approved a “Russia sanctions bill” which recommends a whopping “500% tariffs” on “all goods and services” imports from countries that purchase petroleum and uranium products from Russia.
China and India, the largest purchaser of Russian oil, stand to lose heavily.
On Wednesday, U.S. inventory data revealed that crude oil inventories recorded a decline of 3.83 million barrels last week, exceeding market expectations and indicating robust demand conditions.
The OPEC+ alliance has reaffirmed its decision to halt production hikes for the early 2026 period, driven by excess supply concerns arising from estimated high output from non-OPEC nations.
Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today revealed an increase of 50,000 jobs (below forecasts of 60,000) in December 2025, less than a downwardly revised 56,000 jobs in November.
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, investors are now betting on a 95.0% chance of the U.S. Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged at its upcoming January 27-28 meeting.
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