The price of Brent crude futures fell 5 cents to $89.60 per barrel, while the price of U.S. WTI, or West Texas Intermediate crude, was trading at $86.43 per barrel as of 03:33 GMT, down 23 cents.
Tuesday’s long-postponed talks between Venezuela’s government and opposition, which President Nicolas Maduro claimed would help the upcoming 2024 election, are expected to resume, according to multiple sources.
This could result in Washington easing sanctions.
It could be recalled that in 2019, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela to prevent it from exporting oil to others following the country’s 2018 election which Washington deemed a sham due to human rights violations. This was done to punish Maduro’s administration.
On worries that the Middle East conflict might worsen, both oil benchmarks rose last week, with global benchmark Brent posting its highest weekly gain since February, a 7.5 percent gain.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will pay a pivotal visit to Israel as that nation gets ready to step up its offensive against Hamas militants, which has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and stoked concerns about a wider conflict with Iran.
“The risks remain, with Iran’s foreign minister warning of possible expansion of the war on other fronts as approaching the inevitable stage,” ANZ Research said in a note on Tuesday.
In order to lower high prices, the Biden administration has been looking for ways to increase the flow of oil to international markets.
However, due to a lack of recent investments, any actual increase in Venezuela’s oil production will take time.
