Oil prices rose on Monday after climbing more than 2% in the previous session, due to production disruptions in major U.S. crude-producing regions.
Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.7%, to $66.30 a barrel at 0721 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $61.49 a barrel, up 42 cents, or 0.7%.
Both benchmarks notched weekly gains of 2.7% to close on Friday at their highest points since January 14. A U.S. military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.
Crude production of about 250,000 barrels per day has been lost in the U.S. due to harsh weather, including declines in the Bakken field in Oklahoma and parts of Texas, JPMorgan analysts said in a note on Monday.
Traders are also wary of geopolitical risks, analysts say, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran keep investors on edge.
“President Trump’s declaration of a U.S. armada sailing toward Iran has reignited supply-disruption fears, adding a risk premium to crude prices and supporting risk aversion flows more broadly this morning,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told Reuters.
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On Friday, a senior Iranian official said Iran would treat any attack “as an all-out war against us.”
Separately, Kazakhstan’s Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it returned to full loading capacity at its terminal on the Black Sea coast on Sunday after completing maintenance at one of its three mooring points.
