US crude futures rose more than 1 per cent on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
US crude futures were up 1.3 per cent, or 72 cents, to trade at $55.99 at 0022 GMT.
Oil prices settled near five-year lows in the previous session on progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks, as a deal may see western sanctions on Moscow eased, freeing up supply at a time of fragile global demand.
Trump on Tuesday ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, adding that he now regarded the nation’s rulers as a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump’s comments came a week after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, stepping up a pressure campaign on the government of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who Trump has blamed for drugs entering the US
