Benchmark Brent oil prices gained 1.8% to $63.50 per barrel, while WTI crude prices rose 1.9% to $59.64 per barrel, at the time of writing.
- The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said on Saturday that a drone boat attack forced it to stop operations at its key Black Sea port terminal, Novorossiysk.
- The CPC handles roughly 1% of the entire global crude supply.
- U.S. President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Venezuela on Saturday, noting “the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela” should be considered closed.
Oil prices gained on Monday after a Ukrainian assault on a key oil terminal in Russia and growing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela raised concerns over supply amid the OPEC+ decision to freeze output hikes.
Benchmark Brent oil prices gained 1.8% to $63.50 per barrel, while WTI crude prices rose 1.9% to $59.64 per barrel, at the time of writing. Both benchmarks logged the fourth consecutive monthly decline last week, the worst run since 2023.
What’s Aiding Oil Prices?
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said on Saturday that a drone boat attack forced it to stop operations at its key Black Sea port terminal, Novorossiysk. The CPC handles roughly 1% of the entire global crude supply. Ukraine has launched multiple assaults on Russian oil infrastructure to hit one of the key sources of revenue for the country’s economy.
According to a Reuters report, U.S. oil firm Chevron, a stakeholder in CPC, said on Sunday that loadings of its Tengizchevroil venture’s crude oil were underway at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Venezuela on Saturday, noting “the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela” should be considered closed. On Sunday, Trump confirmed that he spoke with Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro but did not give out any details.
“These tensions have yet to have a direct impact on Venezuelan oil production and exports, but that risk is certainly on the rise,” said oil markets analyst Tim Evans of Evans on Energy.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about the United States Oil Fund was in the ‘bullish’ territory, compared with ‘extremely bearish’ a month ago. At the same time, traders were ‘extremely bullish’ about the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil fund.
What Did OPEC+ Do?
Amid heightened uncertainty, the OPEC+ oil producer group on Sunday reaffirmed its commitment not to change production levels in the first three months of 2026, as it continues to grapple with oversupply concerns next year.
The International Energy Agency and major oil research agencies have predicted an oil market surplus in 2026 after OPEC+ brought back about 3 million barrels per day of oil production this year to gain market share.
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