Veriton Investment

Oil Holds Loss on Supply Outlook as Traders Monitor US Freeze

(Bloomberg) -- Oil held a loss as traders focused on the outlook for plentiful supply, while monitoring the fallout from a sweeping US winter storm.

West Texas Intermediate traded below $61 a barrel after closing 0.7% lower on Monday, while Brent was near $65. Kazakhstan’s largest producer is preparing to resume output at the giant Tengiz field, while Chevron Corp. works to bring more Venezuelan crude to an already well-supplied market.

Most Read from Bloomberg

White House Ballroom Architect Reveals New Trump-Requested Features

NYC’s Mamdani Crushes Snow Day Hopes, But He Yearns for It Too

Boston’s 18-Inch Snow Deluge to Make Travel Hard to ‘Impossible’

Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library

World Cup Cities Set to Win $100 Million in Federal Transit Aid

In the US, freezing conditions have disrupted a number of refineries on the US Gulf Coast, though the impact is unlikely to be prolonged. Natural gas futures retreated on Tuesday following a powerful rally due to the cold snap.

“Winter storms normally tend to affect oil through short-term logistics and refining disruptions rather than underlying demand,” said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Karobaar Capital LP. “Unless inventories are already stretched, the impact usually fades once operations normalize.”

Oil futures have rallied at the start of 2026, despite forecasts supply will outpace demand this year. OPEC+ is scheduled to meet this weekend to review a decision on output policy for next month, and are expected to stick with plans to keep oil production steady. There’s no sign so far of any need to respond to events in members Venezuela and Iran, according to one delegate.

President Donald Trump put the spotlight back on Iran after renewing threats against Tehran’s leadership, following a crackdown on people protesting the government of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US leader dispatched naval assets to the Middle East, injecting some risk premium into oil prices.