Oil rises in price after Trump canceled Chevron’s license in Venezuela
27 February 2025 10:04
Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday after falling during the previous two sessions, with supply concerns re-emerging after US President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of the license granted to Chevron to operate in Venezuela. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Reuters.
Futures for Brent crude oil rose by 2 cents to $72.55 per barrel as of 09:31 Kyiv time. Futures for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 6 cents to $68.68 per barrel.
A day earlier, the contracts closed at their lowest level since December 10 due to an unexpected increase in US fuel stockpiles, which hinted at weakening demand, as well as hopes for a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Both benchmark oil grades have lost about 5% since the beginning of the month.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that he was canceling the license granted to Chevron to operate in Venezuela by his predecessor, Joe Biden, more than two years ago.
Chevron exports approximately 240,000 barrels of oil per day from its Venezuelan operations, accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s total oil production. The license suspension means that Chevron will no longer be able to export Venezuelan oil.
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“The news on Venezuela caused a change in the trend after the recent sell-off amid ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine. Potential purchases for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve also supported the market as WTI traded near its lowest level in more than two months,”
– said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.
Last week, Trump said his administration would quickly fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He criticized Biden for using the reserve to lower gasoline prices.
Market participants remain focused on the Russia-Ukraine peace talks initiated by Trump. The US President announced that Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earth minerals, while the Ukrainian leader said that the success of this agreement will depend on these talks and continued US assistance.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles unexpectedly fell last week as refining activity increased, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles showed an unexpected increase, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs noted in a report on Wednesday that the US administration’s dual goals of commodity market dominance and affordability support the bank’s base range for Brent at $70-85, which favors steady growth in US supply.
