- Oil is trading higher, around $83, breaking a series of losses
- Yesterday crude prices sold off more than $2.50/Bbl, following a larger than anticipated storage build
- The EIA reported a 2.7 MMBbl crude storage build, leaving US inventories 1% below the five-year average
- US to reinstate Venezuela sanctions (BBG)
- The Biden administration will be reimposing sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector, saying that President Maduro failed to honor an agreement to allow for fair elections
- The Treasury Department license that allowed oil and gas exploration and activity will expire, giving affected companies until May 31 to wind down activities
- Imports of Venezuelan crude into the US have increased since last fall, but due to a lack of investment in the country, volumes have remained small
- A suspension of Venezuelan imports could benefit other grades of heavy crude such as Canada’s WCS
