On hopes that the US will relax its sanctions against Venezuela, oil prices have stabilized
After falling by more than $1 on Monday, oil prices stabilized on Tuesday on expectations that the United States will relax its sanctions against producer Venezuela and as Washington ramped up its efforts to stop the conflict between Israel and Hamas from getting worse.
Brent crude futures advanced by 16 cents at $89.81 per barrel, meanwhile US WTI dipped down 1 cent at $86.65 per barrel.
Tuesday's long-postponed discussions between Venezuela's government and opposition are expected to resume, according to several sources. President Nicolas Maduro claimed that the talks will help the forthcoming 2024 election.
Since 2019, the United States has placed restrictions on oil shipments from Venezuela, an OPEC member, as retaliation for Maduro's government's handling of elections it deemed fraudulent due to abuses of human rights in 2018.
On worries that the Middle East war would worsen, both oil benchmarks rose last week, with global benchmark Brent rising 7.5%, the most since February.
On Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will pay a crucial visit to Israel as that nation gets ready to intensify an offensive against Hamas militants that has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and stoked concerns about a wider clash with Iran.