Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, as ongoing anti-government protests in Iran raised the prospect of supply disruptions.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for February delivery rose $1.26 to settle at $61.63 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 1.89% to trade at $67.84 a barrel.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards reportedly deployed forces to three provinces in an effort to quell anti-government unrest, their commander said on Wednesday.
Civil unrest in Iran for the sixth-straight day raised the prospect of supply disruptions supporting an uptick in oil prices to two-and-a-half-year highs.
The prospect of fresh supply disruption offset the impact of pipeline restarts in both Libya and North Sea.
The 450,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity Forties pipeline system in the North Sea returned to full operations on Dec. 30 after an unplanned shutdown while a Libyan pipelined gradually returned to production after an explosion last week disrupted operations.
In the U.S. investor attention shifted to the American Petroleum Institute weekly inventory report expected later on Wednesday after US markets close, while the US Energy Information Administration issues its supply totals Thursday at 10:30 a.m. ET.
U.S. oil production is expected to be closely watched amid expectations that output could soon reach 10 million bpd.
"It is only a matter of time before the 10 million barrel per day (bpd) (U.S.) production target will be reached," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Denmark's Saxo Bank.
U.S. oil production averaged about 9.6 million barrels per day in 2017, rising 1.8% to 9.64 million bpd.