Oil prices steady on worries about geopolitical risks to supply

December 3 ------ Oil prices held firm as traders weighed up risks from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy sites, mounting U.S.-Venezuela tension, and mixed expectations for U.S. fuel inventories. Brent crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $63.24 a barrel by 0657 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 13 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to stand at $59.45 a barrel.

Both benchmarks advanced more than 1 per cent on Monday, while WTI was near a two-week high. "Oil held gains as traders awaited President Trump's moves on Venezuela and assessed Black Sea terminal damage," Saxo analysts said in a note to clients.

On Monday, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it had resumed oil shipments from one mooring point at its Black Sea terminal following a major Ukrainian drone attack on November 29. Russia's Kommersant newspaper, citing unnamed sources, on Monday said that oil loadings had resumed via the single point mooring 1 (SPM 1), while SPM 2 was damaged. "The military action further supports our opinion that a peace deal is highly unlikely anytime soon and that the diesel/gasoil markets are on the cusp of pulling the complex back up," analysts at Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

On the negotiation front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv's priorities were to maintain sovereignty and ensure strong security guarantees, adding that territorial disputes remained the most complicated sticking point. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is due to brief the Kremlin on Tuesday. DBS energy sector team lead Suvro Sarkar said, "the only other emerging factor" for oil was "the noise around Venezuela." "While a full-blown conflict is unlikely; ongoing events could destabilize the country internally and threaten oil production and exports," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with his top advisers to discuss the pressure campaign on Venezuela, a senior U.S. official said. On Saturday, Trump said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety," without providing further details.

On Sunday, OPEC+ reaffirmed a small oil output increase for December and a pause in increases in the first quarter of next year due to rising fears of supply glut. "The OPEC+ language on supply management and discipline in the near term remains supportive for oil prices," said DBS Bank's Sarkar. Mixed outlooks on U.S. crude and refined products inventory data weighed slightly on prices, with a Reuters preliminary poll among four analysts showing crude inventories falling but product inventories rising in the week of November 28.

Source: channelnewsasia.com