Overview
- Brent traded near $62.17 and WTI around $57.93 after recent gains, with weekly increases of roughly 2.3% for Brent and 1% for WTI.
- The White House scheduled meetings with oil companies and trading houses to organize Venezuelan export arrangements following reports of Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
- The U.S. energy chief said Washington will control Venezuelan crude sales indefinitely, marking a direct intervention in how the country’s barrels are sold.
- Energy shares swung sharply, with major European and U.S. oil companies losing about $18 billion in market value for the week as Chevron outperformed and Venezuela-exposed Repsol edged higher.
- Traders weighed supply risks tied to expanding protests in Iran and uncertainty around Russian exports, while U.S. stocks hit fresh records on jobs data that bolstered rate-cut hopes.