Mubasher: Oil prices rose on Wednesday as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reported that it had trimmed supply deeply last January, while US sanctions curbed Venezuela’s crude exports.

By 8:20 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures went up 0.66% to $53.45 per barrel (pb), while global benchmark Brent futures rose 0.75% to $62.89 pb.

Oil prices were supported after Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de-facto leader, announced that it would trim its daily output and shipments by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) more than its agreed quota cut, Singapore-based futures brokerage OANDA senior market analyst Jeffery Halley told Thomson Reuters.

The producer club on Tuesday said that it slashed its output by 797,000 last January to 30.81 million bpd.

In addition, supply disruption in Venezuela also boosted crude markets as the Latin American nation endures a political and economic crisis, as Washington slapped sanctions against its state-owned oil firm, Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA).

US refiners have been some of biggest crude customers of Venezuela.

Caracas has looked for alternative buyers, especially in Asia, but Washington pushed many importers to shun any shipments from PdVSA.

However, despite OPEC supply cuts and supply issues in Venezuela, global markets are still sufficiently supplied, analysts told Reuters.

“Oil markets continue to focus at the macro level on the dual notions of adequate supply and softening demand,” US think-tank Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) senior vice president Frank Verrastro said in a note.

Supplies remained enough owing to “adequate global oil inventories, the prospect of weakened demand tied both to US-China trade and broader economic concerns, the approach of seasonal refinery maintenance - when crude oil demand declines - and an influx of new supply from the US and elsewhere,” Verrastro added.