Oil prices continued to rise after the United States stepped up its efforts to stop oil exports from Iran by sanctioning a Chinese refinery for the first time.
Brent crude closed at $72 on Thursday, and West Texas Intermediate moved up toward $69 a barrel.
The Trump administration’s first action in the Asian country’s refining sector was the US’s sanctioning of a Chinese oil refinery, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., and its CEO for allegedly purchasing Iranian oil.
Crude is headed for its largest one-week gain since mid-January as the largest oil consumer’s optimism regarding consumption was bolstered by US data.
However, negative factors like the growing global trade war and the threat of additional OPEC+ supplies starting next month have hindered progress.
The plan to increase crude oil production beginning in April 2025 has been approved by eight OPEC+ members. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman have agreed to start reversing their 2.2 mbl/d voluntary output cuts over an 18-month period from April 2025 to September 2026.
The plan also calls for raising the UAE’s output objective by 300 kb/d throughout that time frame.
