Crude oil prices and Oklahoma energy stocks made gains in Thursday’s trading following news of cuts to Russian gasoline exports.
Plus, there was the news that oil major Chevron is getting approval to restart production in Venezuela. It actually sent prices falling before the close of trading.
Brent crude, the global standard, rose 67 cents or 0.98% to close at $69.18 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 78 cents or 1.20% and finished at $66.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude fell in early afternoon trade on news that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was preparing to allow limited oil operations in sanctioned OPEC nation Venezuela.
Earlier in the session, WTI had been up more than a dollar and Brent crude came near that level.
“The news about Chevron being able to go back into Venezuela and get oil going again just took the knees out of the market,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC.
Even so, Kilduff said the market did not expect the Trump administration would open up Venezuela to other U.S. oil companies.
Oklahoma energy stocks continued with another day of gains including a 12% jump for Stardust Energy. Unit Corporation and Vital Energy each had nearly 5% gains for the day.