Shafaq News/ Oil prices eased atouch but held near one-month highs on Friday as they headed for a third weeklygain on a tightening global supply outlook after the U.S. imposed tariffsagainst countries buying oil from Venezuela and placed curbs on Iranian oiltrade.
Brent crude futures lost 14 cents,or 0.2%, at $73.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures weredown 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $69.80 a barrel at 0431 GMT.
The order added fresh uncertainty tobuyers and saw trade of Venezuelan oil to top buyer China stall. Elsewhere,sources said India's Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggestrefining complex, will halt Venezuelan oil imports.
"The potential loss ofVenezuelan crude exports to the market due to secondary tariffs and thepossibility of the same being imposed on Iranian barrels has caused an apparenttightness in crude supply," said June Goh, a senior oil analyst at SpartaCommodities.
Oil was also underpinned by signs ofbetter demand in the U.S., the world's top oil consumer, as the country's crudestocks fell more than anticipated.
Data by the Energy InformationAdministration showed U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to433.6 million barrels in the week ended March 21, compared with analysts'expectations in a Reuters poll for a 956,000-barrel draw.
The broader global dynamics for oiltrade, however, pointed to a period of heightened uncertainty, as a blitz ofU.S. tariffs against trading partner countries raises fears of a sharp economicdownturn in a blow to oil demand.
As a result, analysts don't expectsharp gains in oil prices to be sustained in the current environment.
"While the market is sufferingunder extreme uncertainties, we are holding to our forecast for Brent crude toaverage $76 per barrel in 2025, down from $80 per barrel in 2024," the BMIanalysts wrote.
(REUTERS)