Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday on supply concerns with the U.S. stepping up efforts to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports, while a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories also lent support.
Brent crude futures gained 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $73.22 a barrel by 0404 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $69.20 a barrel.
Both contracts hit their highest in three weeks in the previous session. “Crude oil prices maintain their bullish bias after Trump’s sanctions on Venezuelan oil, raising supply-side concerns,” Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova, wrote in a market commentary on Wednesday.
On Monday Trump signed an executive order authorizing his administration to impose blanket 25% tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act on imports from any country that buys Venezuelan crude oil and liquid fuels.
Oil is Venezuela’s main export. China, already a target of U.S. import tariffs, is its largest buyer.
