Oil prices rose to the highest in morning trading after several reports on the administration's intention to impose sanctions on Venezuelan oil in response to the decision of the Venezuelan President not recognized by the United States to sever diplomatic relations with the United States and his desire to withdraw and close all diplomatic outlets in the United States

Where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had previously given all US diplomatic staff 72 hours to leave the country. He also announced that Venezuela would close all its embassies and consulates in the United States as part of an attempt to break all diplomatic ties between the two countries.

United States A number of non-essential diplomats from Venezuela are leaving

On the other hand, the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered all non-essential diplomatic staff and government officials in Venezuela to leave the country, according to various media reports on Friday.

In a note sent on Thursday evening, the State Department said non-emergency staff should leave the country because of the deteriorating security situation. She also advised all US citizens to "strongly study" the departures as well. However, the State Department spokesman said that the US Embassy in Caracas will remain open despite the current situation.


The markets ignored data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which showed a rise in US oil inventories. As the Energy Information Administration report showed that US oil inventories rose by 8 million barrels to 445 million barrels during the week ending January 18, compared to expectations of a drop of 600 thousand barrels.

Oil contracts

• WTI futures for March delivery rose 1.30% to $ 53.82 a barrel,
• Brent crude for March delivery rose 1.16% to $ 61.80 a barrel at 8:10 am.