Oil prices hit their highest since late September on ?Wednesday after a winter ?storm disrupted U.S. crude output ?while a weak U.S. dollar and continued Kazakh outages lent further support.
Brent crude futures were down 39 cents, or 0.6%, at $67.18 U.S. a barrel Wednesday. U.S. West ?Texas Intermediate ?crude was down 22 cents, or 0.4%, at $62.17.
Both ?benchmarks had climbed by about 3% on Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar is hovering near four-year lows against a basket of other currencies, reflecting weakness that makes dollar-denominated commodities such as oil cheaper for those holding other currencies.
On the ?supply side, exports of crude oil from U.S. Gulf Coast ports tumbled to zero on Sunday before rebounding on Monday, after a massive winter storm swept across the country.
Lost production in Kazakhstan is also underpinning the price rally, though the OPEC+ member hopes that output at the Tengiz field will resume gradually within a week. Some, however, have said this might take longer.
Meanwhile, pipeline operator CPC, which handles about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports, has restored full loading capacity at its Black Sea terminal after maintenance at a mooring point hit by drones, sources said.
On the supply side, the OPEC+ group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies is set to keep its pause ?on oil output increases for March at a meeting on February 1, OPEC+ delegates ?said.
Elsewhere, U.S. officials are working to issue a general licence that ?would lift some sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector, sources said, which could weigh on prices.
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