Overview
- Brent hovered near $65 and WTI around $61 after a roughly 9% four‑session surge, with prices easing in early Asian trade.
- Unrest in Iran kept a geopolitical premium in focus as President Trump urged protesters to continue and said help was on the way.
- The American Petroleum Institute estimated a 5.23 million‑barrel U.S. crude inventory increase for the week ended Jan. 9, with official EIA data due Wednesday.
- Venezuela restarted shipments, with two supertankers departing carrying about 1.8 million barrels each in what could be the first cargoes under a 50‑million‑barrel arrangement.
- Industry reports cited attacks on two tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, while analysts said fundamentals remain loose and Citi raised its three‑month Brent outlook to $70.