0853 ET - Oil futures are lower to start the week with the market weighing the possibility of more Venezuelan crude against rising tensions in the Middle East. While the Venezuelan situation has gone from the threat of supply disruption to "varying degrees of optimism about the potential recovery in crude output," in Iran the situation has worsened with protests, Amarpreet Singh of Barclays says in a note. "We think it has introduced a $3-$4/barrel geopolitical risk premium in the price." President's Trump's threats against Iran's forcefully suppressing protests "have raised the specter of a potential miscalculation that could lead to a material escalation in Middle East tensions," he adds. WTI is off 0.6% at $58.74 a barrel and Brent is down 0.5% at $63.02.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2026 08:53 ET (13:53 GMT)
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