Oil prices fell on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Venezuela would “deliver” between 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the United States.
اضافة اعلان
By 02:00 GMT, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 78 cents, or 1.37%, to $56.35 per barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 61 cents, or 1%, to $60.09 per barrel. Both benchmarks had declined by more than a dollar in the previous session as markets balanced expectations of a global supply surplus this year against uncertainties regarding Venezuelan output following the U.S. arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump said on social media Tuesday: “This oil will be sold at market price, and I will control these funds, as President of the United States, to ensure they benefit both the Venezuelan people and the United States!”
Tina Teng, a market analyst at Momo ANZ, noted that Trump’s post indicated a preference for increasing supply rather than restricting it, fueling concerns about global oversupply.
Reuters sources reported that the Caracas–Washington agreement may initially require reallocating shipments originally bound for China. Venezuela had been selling its main crude at roughly $22 per barrel below Brent for delivery to Venezuelan ports, valuing the deal at about $1.9 billion.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that the oil market could see a surplus of up to three million barrels per day in the first half of 2026, due to weak demand growth last year and rising output from OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories fell last week while fuel stocks rose, according to market sources citing the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. API data showed a decline of approximately 2.77 million barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Official U.S. government statistics on oil inventories are scheduled for release at 15:30 GMT on Wednesday. Eight analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecasted an average increase of around 500,000 barrels for the week ending January 2.
(Reuters)
