Oil bounces after Trump orders blockade of sanctioned tankers off Venezuela
Dec. 16, 2025 8:55 PM ET
By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
U.S. crude futures oil rose more than 1% after-hours Tuesday as President Trump ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, while also designating the Maduro regime as a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump's move is a major escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela and follows last week's seizure of a tanker off the Venezuelan coast.
~30% of Venezuela’s oil shipments are at risk if the U.S. continues to enforce sanctions, according to Rapidan Energy Group; tankers loaded nearly 590,000 bbl/day for export from Venezuela last month.
U.S. crude futures recently climbed to nearly $56/bbl after plunging nearly 3% in regular trading to $55.27/bbl, at one point dipping below $55 for the first time in nearly five years, as the prospect of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal appeared to strengthen, raising expectations sanctions could be eased.
Crude oil is "approaching critical technical levels," and "a downside break could soon put $50 oil to the test," Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital said in a note.
Beyond the bearish trend in oil, "we believe the market is increasingly pricing in the possibility of a forthcoming peace deal between Russia and Ukraine," Cardillo added.
The two major crude oil benchmarks fell for the fourth straight session in regular trading Tuesday, with front-month Nymex crude ( CL1:COM) for January delivery -2.7% to $55.27/bbl and front-month Brent February crude ( CO1:COM) also -2.7% to $58.92/bbl, the lowest settlement value for both benchmarks since February 2021.
Seven of the day's 10 biggest decliners on the S&P 500 were energy related: Phillips 66 ( PSX) -6.9%, APA Corp. ( APA) -5.2%, Marathon Petroleum ( MPC) -4.7%, Halliburton ( HAL) -4.3%, Baker Hughes ( BKR) -4%, EOG Resources ( EOG) -3.9%, ConocoPhillips ( COP) -3.8%.
U.S. natural gas futures ( NG1:COM) also extended their recent slide on a lower outlook for late December weather-related demand, with the front-month January contract finishing -3.1% to $3.886/MMBtu, its lowest close since October 29. |
