US Sanctions on Venezuela Send Oil Prices Upward

18 Apr 2024 , 10:58 AM

Early on Thursday, oil prices increased, reversing some of the losses from the previous session when the US announced it would reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela and the EU mentioned new measures against Iran.

U.S. oil futures were trading 2 cents higher at $82.71 a barrel, while Brent futures were up 10 cents, or 0.11%, at $87.39 a barrel. Due to concerns about demand, the two benchmarks fell 3% over the prior session.

In response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to fulfil his election-related obligations, the United States said that it would not extend a licence that was scheduled to expire on Thursday and that had significantly loosened oil sanctions against Venezuela.

After Tehran attacked Israel with missiles and drones, there was still uncertainty about how Israel would respond. Leaders of the European Union resolved on Wednesday to intensify sanctions against Iran in an effort to stop the dispute from getting worse.

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on aid packages worth over $95 billion that will offer security assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific region. Of those packages, $61 billion will be used to resolve the war in Ukraine.

In an effort to contain the oil market, a Federal Reserve survey released on Wednesday revealed that businesses indicated they expect inflation pressures to remain stable and that U.S. economic activity increased marginally from late February to early April. That maintained the current patterns that have prevented interest rate cuts by the central bank.

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