Oil prices fell by more than 1.5% amid concerns about increased Venezuelan supplies

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices ended lower today, Jan. 6, after a volatile session as traders assessed geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Caribbean, particularly after the United States pledged to invest in Venezuela's oil sector.

At the close of the session, Brent crude futures for March delivery fell 1.7% or $1.06 to $60.70 a barrel.

WTI crude oil futures for February delivery also fell by 2% or $1.19 to $57.13 a barrel.

Reports indicate that Venezuela and the US have discussed exporting crude oil from the Latin American country to refineries in the US, following increasing quantities of crude stored at sea and on land.

Meanwhile, Chevron chartered a small fleet of ships and sent them to Venezuela, after it became the sole supplier of Venezuelan crude following the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation.

For his part, US President Donald Trump stated that his country intends to revive dilapidated oil facilities in Venezuela and strengthen the infrastructure there in order to increase supplies to the Latin American country.

Trafigura Group said the group and other companies intend to hold talks with the US government to explore ways to resume purchasing crude oil from Venezuela, while noting that the Latin American country may add small amounts of oil to the market this year.

This comes as shipping data showed that Venezuela's main oil ports have stopped delivering crude shipments to customers of state oil company PDVSA in Asia for the fifth day in a row.

On another front, the Ukrainian Security Service announced today that its forces targeted an oil depot in the Lipetsk region of Russia, resulting in a fire breaking out at the depot.