Overview
- Brent traded near $63.3 a barrel and WTI hovered around $60, putting prices on track for a second straight weekly advance of roughly 2%.
- An economists’ poll showed 82% expect a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate cut next week, bolstering the outlook for oil demand.
- Peace efforts showed no progress in Moscow while Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and a hit on the CPC Black Sea terminal maintained a geopolitical risk premium.
- Traders monitored U.S.–Venezuela tensions after President Trump’s latest comments, with Rystad warning Venezuela’s roughly 1.1 million barrels per day could be at risk if conflict escalates.
- Oversupply concerns persisted as Saudi Aramco cut January Arab Light prices to a five-year low and the EIA reported a 574,000-barrel U.S. crude build to 427.5 million.