Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE, Reuters – Friday’s oil prices rose as fears grew that the OPEC+ producer might cut off crude supplies. This comes after a protest in Kazakhstan.

Futures surged 48 cents (or 0.6%) to $82.47/barrel at 0127 GMT. That’s in addition to the 1.5% gain seen in the previous session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 50 cents or 0.6% to $79.96 per barrel. This is an increase of 2.1% in the previous session.

Louise Dickson, Rystad Energy analyst said that the upward rise in oil prices was mostly due to market jitters. “The political unrest in Kazakhstan continues to escalate and sideline oil production,” Dickson wrote in an emailed comment.

Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to quell the unrest after days of turmoil in the country. After state price caps for propane and butane were lifted on New Year’s Day, protests broke out in Kazakhstan’s western oil-rich regions.

Brent and WTI are on track for a 6% increase in the first week. Prices were at their highest level since November. Supply concerns outweighed worries about the spread of Omicron coronavirus variants.

OPEC+ is not meeting the demand for additional supply from Russia, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.

December saw a 70,000-barrel increase in OPEC production, well below the 253,000 bpd boost allowed by the OPEC+ supply agreement, which has restored the output that was slashed after 2020’s collapse under COVID-19 lockdowns.

Due to pipe maintenance, Libya’s production has fallen to 729,000 barrels per hour, down from the high of 1.3million bpd in 2013.