Oil prices bounce back as investors eye fallout from US election By Reuters
Written by Colleen Howe
Beijing – Oil prices rose on Thursday following a sell-off triggered by the US presidential election, as risks to oil supplies from President Trump’s presidency and a hurricane building on the Gulf Coast outweighed a stronger US dollar and higher commodity prices.
Futures rose 26 cents, or 0.35%, to $75.18 a barrel by 0125 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 16 cents or 0.22% to $71.85.
Concerns about Trump’s presidency suppressing oil supplies from Iran and Venezuela and the looming hurricane “more than offset the post-election impact of a strong US dollar and … higher-than-expected US goods,” Tony Sycamore, the market. commenter on IG, wrote a note.
Trump’s election initially sparked a sell-off that pushed oil prices above $2 as the US dollar rose to its highest level since September 2022. WTI at the end of Wednesday’s session.
Donald Trump is expected to restore his “high pressure policy” of sanctions on Iranian oil. That could cut supply by up to 1 million barrels a day, according to Energy Aspects, although analysts warn it would be difficult to stop the flow of Iranian oil to China.
Trump in his first term also imposed tough sanctions on Venezuelan oil, measures that were briefly reversed by the Biden administration but later reinstated.
In North America, Hurricane Rafael intensified into a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, and about 17% of crude oil production or 304,418 barrels per day in the US Gulf of Mexico has been shut down, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
Inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels to 427.7 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 1, the US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with expectations for a rise of 1.1 million barrels. [EIA/S]
