Oil prices ticked up on Thursday after three days of losses, supported by worries over potential tighter sanctions on Russian crude, though persistent oversupply concerns limited the upside.
Brent crude futures added 20 cents, or 0.31%, to $65.55 a barrel at 06:31 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed 20 cents, or 0.32%, to $61.98 a barrel. Some analysts attributed the gains to a technical rebound following a roughly 1% decline for both Brent and WTI in the previous session, with Brent closing at its lowest level since June 5 and WTI since May 30.
“Buying interest emerged as WTI neared its $60 support level, while heightened geopolitical risks and speculation about tighter sanctions on Russian crude also lent support,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers announced Wednesday that they would target parties continuing to purchase Russian oil or facilitating circumvention. In addition, the U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence to conduct long-range missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, according to Reuters, confirming a Wall Street Journal report. The move is expected to help Ukraine hit refineries, pipelines, and other energy assets to reduce Moscow’s revenue.
Chinese stockpiling, given its status as the world’s top crude importer, also supported prices, preventing a deeper decline.
However, concerns about the global economy amid the U.S. government shutdown, coupled with anticipated higher OPEC+ production, capped gains. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, leveraging the shutdown to target political priorities.
On the supply side, sources familiar with OPEC+ discussions said the alliance could boost November production by up to 500,000 barrels per day—triple October’s increase—as Saudi Arabia aims to regain market share, even as demand in the U.S. and Asia begins to ease.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude, gasoline, and distillate inventories rose last week amid softer refining activity and demand. Crude stockpiles increased by 1.8 million barrels to 416.5 million for the week ending September 26, above the 1-million-barrel rise expected in a Reuters poll.
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