Investing.com – WTI crude oil prices settled higher Thursday as falling exports from Venezuela and fading fears OPEC is set to lift production curbs supported sentiment.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for July delivery rose 1.9% to settle at $65.95 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent rose 2.47% to trade at $77.22 a barrel.
Oil prices started the day on the front foot as Algeria's oil minister said OPEC would focus on balancing the market rather than on easing production curbs, Reuters reported.
The upbeat remarks followed similar comments from Iraqi's Oil Minister, who said Wednesday that a production increase in the second half of the year was not on the agenda for the June 22 OPEC meeting.
That helped alleviate investor fears that OPEC was preparing to lift limits on its production-cut accord to offset falling output from Venezuela and Iran.
OPEC and other producers, including Russia, have collectively cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day since 2017 to rid the market of excess supplies. The OPEC-led deal, agreed in November 2016, was renewed last year through 2018.
Oil prices were also supported by a report showing signs of ongoing Venezuela output woes as the country is nearly a month behind delivering crude to customers from its main export terminals, Reuters said, citing shipping data.
The rise in oil prices comes a day after data showed an unexpected build in inventories of U.S. crude by 2.072 million barrels as domestic oil output jumped to a record 10.8 million bpd, according to Energy Information Administration.