Oil Updates — Crude prices up; Chevron awaits Venezuelan oil cargoes

Brent crude futures advanced $1.81, or 2.2 percent, and traded at $85.00 a barrel at 0446 GMT. (Shutterstock)
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RIYADH: Oil rebounded on Tuesday after falling to more than 11-month lows in the previous session, as investors weighed a potential output adjustment from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, who are set to have a key meeting this week.

Brent crude futures advanced $1.81, or 2.2 percent, and traded at $85.00 a barrel at 0446 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.37, or 1.8 percent, to $78.61 a barrel.

Brent settled down 0.5 percent the previous day, having slumped more than 3 percent to $80.61 earlier in the session to its lowest since Jan. 4. WTI settled up 1.3 percent on Monday after touching its lowest since December 2021.

Chevron awaits Venezuelan oil cargoes, but PDVSA wants payments

Chevron Corp. aims to start receiving cargoes of Venezuelan oil as early as December after the oil company last week received a US license to do so, but Caracas may not be as eager because US sanctions restrict payments, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The US on Saturday granted Chevron a six-month license to operate in Venezuela, reinstating oil trading privileges it had, while preventing exchanges of cash and requiring the crude cargoes go to US refiners.

Executives at Venezuelan state firm PDVSA initially welcomed the authorization for a partial return to the US, once the country’s most important market. They are less enthusiastic after learning of license terms that will not allow Chevron to reimburse operational costs or pay taxes and royalties in Venezuela, according to the people.

PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

As of Nov. 23, Chevron’s largest joint oil venture in Venezuela had 1.79 million barrels of exportable crude in stock, a document seen by Reuters showed. Another oil processing project where it is a minority partner halted operations earlier this year due to accumulated inventories that could not be exported.

Talks with EU on Russia oil price cap going well: White House

A White House spokesperson on Monday said talks with the European Union about a Russian oil price cap are going well.

Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that he did not see inordinate pressure to take more action on the cap.

(With input from Reuters)