Both Venezuela and Nigeria are major oil producers. Although Nigeria’s oil fields are mainly located in the south of the country, the airstrikes increased geopolitical risks.
The White House has ordered US forces to focus on a “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months, indicating that Washington is currently more interested in using economic rather than military means to pressure Caracas.
However, oil prices are on track for their steepest annual decline since 2020 as investors weighed U.S. economic growth and assessed the risk of supply disruptions, including in Venezuela.
Brent and WTI prices are on track to fall by around 16% and 18% respectively this year. This is the steepest decline since the COVID pandemic hit oil demand, as supply is expected to exceed demand next year.
Oil shipments from Kazakhstan via the Caspian pipeline will fall by a third in December to the lowest level since October 2024 after a Ukrainian drone strike damaged facilities at the main CPC export terminal, two market sources said on Wednesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later than usual on Monday due to the Christmas holidays. The data should provide a picture of demand from the world’s largest oil consumer.
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