Oil prices rise 3% and Brent crude hits 90.18 dollars per barrel

Oil prices recorded USD 90.18 per barrel for global benchmark Brent crude futures, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures recorded USD 85.35 per barrel, as prices rose by about 3%, the highest level in a week, when settling on Friday, this comes amid fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East and the impact on crude supplies on global oil markets.
 
The United States of America has eased sanctions on the oil and gas industry in Venezuela for 6 months, and the easing of US sanctions against Venezuela raises a state of controversy about the impact on the markets .
 
The Spanish newspaper El Economista said that Venezuela’s oil production will increase by 25%, more than 200 thousand barrels per day, which will make it the beginning of the recovery of oil again in the country, but experts are worried about the prices and their rise in the coming periods due to the Gaza war .
 
However, there are still questions about how quickly the country’s production can be increased and what impact this will have on the world market, which is increasingly looking for barrels in the face of geopolitical tensions, some experts estimate that oil production could rise rapidly in 2024, and the most optimistic predict an increase in six months.
 
Fernando Ferreira, director of the geopolitical risk Service, said that the final Pace will depend “on how the sanctions relief package ends,” noting that the US Treasury announced the easing of sanctions, this came in response to the signing of the electoral roadmap agreement between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition. One of the fixed points is that there will be presidential elections in the second half of 2024.
 
The current oil production ranges from about 750 thousand to 800 thousand barrels per day. And in the nineties, production reached 3 million barrels per day, which turned Venezuela into a world power in the energy field. Its lowest level was in June 2020 at 374 thousand barrels.
 
Francisco Monaldi, a researcher on Latin American energy policy at the Baker Institute for public policy at Rice University, said that an additional 250 thousand to 300 thousand barrels per day could be added in 2025 if all restrictions are lifted. He added that the figure will decrease to between 170 thousand and 200 thousand barrels per day if only some sanctions are lifted.