Overview
- Brent traded near $66 and WTI around $61 after a roughly 9%–11% surge over four to five sessions to the highest levels since October.
- The EIA reported U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.4 million barrels, with gasoline stocks up about 9 million barrels, reinforcing a looser near-term balance.
- A private API survey earlier showed a larger crude build of about 5.27 million barrels, plus sizeable gasoline and distillate increases, adding pressure to the rally.
- Venezuela has begun moving crude again, with two supertankers of roughly 1.8 million barrels each departing in what sources described as the first shipments in a possible 50‑million‑barrel supply move.
- Citi lifted its 0–3 month Brent outlook to $70 on higher risk, while analysts noted protests in Iran have not reached key producing regions, keeping direct supply outages limited so far.