Oil pares gains on possible US OK for Chevron to renew Venezuelan operations
Oil pared gains on Thursday afternoon following a Reuters report that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration may allow Chevron to resume operations in Venezuela.
Brent crude futures were up 26 cents, or 0.38%, to $68.77 a barrel by 1:14 p.m. CDT (1814 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 44 cents, or 0.67%, to $65.69 per barrel.
Earlier in the session, WTI had been up more than a dollar and Brent crude came near that level.
"The news about Chevron being able to go back into Venezuela and get oil going again just took the knees out of the market," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC.
Kilduff said the market does not expect the Trump administration will open up Venezuela to other U.S. oil companies.
"This is a unique one-off," he said.
Oil was stronger on news Russia was planning to cut gasoline exports to all but a few allies and nations Mongolia, with which it has supply agreements.
"Russia looking to cut off gasoline exports gave the market a boost," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. "The market was looking for a reason to go higher."
Early in the session, futures gained on the previous day's report of a U.S. crude inventory draw and on hopes for a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union that would lower tariffs.
"The U.S. crude inventory draw and the trade efforts are adding some support to prices," said Janiv Shah, an analyst at Rystad.
On Wednesday, two European diplomats said the EU and the U.S. were moving toward a trade deal that could include a 15% U.S. baseline tariff on EU imports and possible exemptions. This could pave the way for another major trade agreement following the Japan deal.
Also on Wednesday, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed crude inventories fell last week by 3.2 million barrels to 419 million barrels, far exceeding analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.
Source: Reuters
