Overview
- Brent hovered near $62.5 and WTI around $58.6 on Friday, setting up the largest weekly advance since late October.
- The White House directed U.S. forces to focus on quarantining Venezuelan oil for at least two months, with two tankers seized this month and the sanctioned Bella 1 turning away as it was pursued.
- President Donald Trump said the U.S. carried out a strike on Islamic State targets in northwest Nigeria, a producer of roughly 1.5 million barrels per day, with no reports of disrupted output.
- Despite the week’s jump, Brent and WTI remain on track for their steepest annual declines since 2020, with major forecasters flagging a looming supply surplus into next year.
- Volatility was heightened by holiday‑thinned volumes and a delayed U.S. inventory report due Monday, while separate damage to Kazakhstan’s CPC export flows added another supply watchpoint.