Crude oil traded flat in Asian trade on Thursday, giving up early gains as geopolitical tensions escalated following the United States' seizure of a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker, a move that heightened concerns about potential supply disruptions.
By 3:10 pm AEDT (4:10 am GMT), Brent crude futures edged down 4 cents, or 0.1%, to US$62.17 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed, easing just 1 cent to US$58.45 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, "we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening."
Analysts at ANZ commented in a note to clients: “This marks a serious escalation of tension. China has been the biggest buyer of Venezuela’s crude in recent years, according to ship tracking data.”
While U.S. officials did not identify the vessel, British maritime risk group Vanguard said the tanker Skipper was believed to have been seized off Venezuela’s coast.
Separately, tensions in the Black Sea rose after Ukrainian sea drones reportedly struck and disabled a tanker involved in transporting Russian oil as it travelled through Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone.
Investors are also monitoring progress in Ukraine peace talks. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany held a call with Trump to discuss Washington’s renewed diplomatic efforts, describing the moment as “critical” for advancing negotiations.
On the data front, the American Petroleum Institute reportedly recorded a draw of 4.8 million barrels in U.S. commercial crude stockpiles for the week ending 5 December, greater than an expected draw of 1.7 million barrels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration also published its official petroleum status report on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), with U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreasing by 1.8 million barrels from the previous week, slightly greater than the 1.6 million barrels draw expected.
