Oil prices rose on Wednesday for a fifth straight session on fears of Iranian supply disruptions due to deadly civil unrest and as the U.S. and Iran traded threats.
Brent futures were up 42 cents, or 0.6%, at $65.89 U.S. a barrel early Wednesday morning. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude
improved 36 cents, or 0.6%, at $61.51 a barrel.
Tehran warned U.S. allies in the Middle East it would strike U.S. bases on their soil if Washington attacked Iran. Some personnel were advised to leave a U.S. military base in Qatar.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without specifying what that meant.
The oil price rise was also limited by significant crude and product builds in the U.S., reported by the American Petroleum Institute late on Tuesday.
Crude stocks in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose by 5.23 million barrels in the week ended January 9, the API ?reported, citing market sources.
Gasoline inventories climbed 8.23 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose 4.34 million barrels from a week earlier.
Stockpile data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released later on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a Reuters poll showed that U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely rose.
Also weighing on prices, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries member Venezuela has begun reversing oil production cuts made under a U.S. embargo as crude exports were also resuming.
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