Oil prices rose slightly on the first trading day of 2026 after showing their largest annual decline since 2020 last year, amid drones hitting Russian oil facilities and a US blockade putting pressure on Venezuela's exports, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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Brent crude futures rose 35 cents on Friday to $61.20 a barrel by 04:09 GMT (06:09 Kyiv time), while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 34 cents to $57.76 a barrel.
In recent months, Ukraine, as the publication writes, has intensified attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, seeking to cut off Moscow's sources of financing for its military campaign in Ukraine.
As part of the Trump administration's latest efforts to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Washington on Wednesday sanctioned four companies and associated oil tankers that it says operate in Venezuela's oil sector.
The American blockade aims to prevent tankers from entering and leaving Venezuela and forces the state-owned energy company PDVSA to take extreme measures to avoid refinery shutdowns as residual fuel inventories accumulate.
Brent and WTI benchmarks recorded an annual decline of almost 20% in 2025, the sharpest since 2020, amid fears of oversupply and tariffs outweighing geopolitical risks. For Brent, this was the third consecutive year of decline, the longest such streak on record.
The subdued oil price dynamics reflect the struggle between short-term geopolitical risks and long-term market factors pointing to an oversupply ahead of next week's OPEC+ meeting, Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova, noted in her note. WTI prices in the first quarter are fluctuating in the range of $55 to $65 per barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will hold a virtual meeting on January 4.
Traders generally expect OPEC+ to continue to halt production increases in the first quarter, said June Guo, senior analyst at Sparta Commodities.
"2026 will be an important year to assess OPEC+'s supply balancing decisions," she said, adding that China will continue to build up oil inventories in the first half of the year, which will provide a floor for oil prices.
In the United States, oil production reached a record high of 13.87 million barrels per day in October, according to Energy Information Administration data released on Wednesday. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), oil inventories declined last week, while gasoline and diesel inventories rose due to active refinery operations.
Oil prices set for biggest annual drop since 2020 - Reuters31.12.25, 14:08 • [views_3748]