Brent and WTI Oil Prices Rise on U.S. Sanctions and OPEC+ Plan to Curb Overproduction
Image Credit: Reuters
Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Friday, poised for their second consecutive weekly gain, driven by fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran and an OPEC+ plan to reduce output.
Brent crude futures increased by 42 cents, or 0.6%, to $72.40 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $68.52 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI are on track for a 2% weekly rise, marking their biggest gains since the first week of 2025.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury imposed new sanctions on Iran, including measures targeting an independent Chinese refiner and other entities involved in supplying Iranian oil to China. This marked the fourth round of sanctions under President Donald Trump’s "maximum pressure" campaign, aiming to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.
ANZ Bank analysts predicted a 1 million barrels per day (bpd) drop in Iranian oil exports due to the stricter sanctions. Vessel tracking service Kpler estimated Iranian exports at over 1.8 million bpd in February, although they cautioned that sanctions might cause revisions to these figures.
In addition, OPEC+ introduced a new plan on Thursday for seven of its members to reduce output to compensate for overproduction. This would involve monthly cuts of 189,000 to 435,000 bpd, lasting until June 2026. The new plan is designed to offset supply increases previously announced by OPEC+, which had planned a 138,000 bpd increase starting in April.
Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author
