Brent gained 28 cents to $78.16 a barrel , WTI rose 34 cents at $72.90.

On October 18, the US Treasury suspended certain sanctions measures on nVenezuela’s oil and gas sector operations.

Brent rose 21 cents, or 0.27%, to $77.01 a barrel. WTI gained 20 cents, or 0.28%, to reach $71.57 a barrel.

The Worldwide Rig Count for December was 1,739, down 55 from the 1,794 counted in November 2023, and down 95, from the 1,834 counted in December 2022.

Brent frose 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.30 a barrel. WTI inched up 0.1%, or 6 cents, to $70.83 a barrel.

The US Treasury Department announced the steps Wednesday, including sanctions on Bellatrix Energy Ltd., a Hong Kong-based firm among the shadowy traders that emerged to help Russia keep its oil exports flowing.

Brent fell 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.48 a barrel. WTI was at $74 a barrel, also down 22 cents or 0.3%.

Brent rose 40 cents to $77.01 a barrel, WTI climbed 40 cents to $71.98.

On the margins of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and OPEC Fund Director General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa signed Practical Arrangements on Cooperation in the Area of Climate Adaptation to enhance collaborative efforts by both entities to develop and implement joint projects on climate adaptation.

The nation’s plants processed 5.33 million barrels of crude a day in the first six days of the month, down about 81,000 barrels a day from the prior week’s average, according to a person with knowledge of industry data.