HOUSTON- Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday amid oil supply disruptions in the US and Russia and as markets awaited clarity on the Ukraine peace talks.
Brent crude futures gained 20 cents, or 0.3 percent at $76.04 a barrel, climbing for a third day.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for March rose 23 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $72.08 a barrel, up 1.7 percent from the close on Friday after not settling on Monday because of the Presidents’ Day public holiday. The March contract expires on Thursday and the more active April contract gained 0.3 percent to $72.04.
Russia said oil flows through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a major route for crude exports from Kazakhstan, were reduced by 30 percent-40 percent on Tuesday after a Ukrainian drone attack on a pumping station. A 30 percent cut would equate to the loss of 380,000 barrels per day of supply to the market, according to Reuters calculations.
Meanwhile, cold weather threatened US oil supply, with the North Dakota Pipeline Authority estimating that production in the country’s No. 3 producing state would be down by as much as 150,000 bpd because of the cold.
