TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Jan 8): Oil prices rose on Thursday, after two days of declines, as a larger-than-expected draw in US crude inventories provided some impetus for investors to buy futures while they monitor developments in Venezuela. On Tuesday, Washington announced a deal with Caracas to get access to up to US$2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude. Venezuela will be "turning over" between 30 million and 50 million barrels of "sanctioned oil" to the US, Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. This would provide a release valve for Venezuelan oil flows, which have been slowed because of a US blockade on sanctioned tankers leaving and entering the country. Trump and his advisers are planning an initiative to dominate the Venezuelan oil industry for years to come, and the president told aides he believes his efforts could help lower oil prices to US$50 a barrel, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Source: The Edge Markets January 08, 2026 05:06 UTC