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Investing.com-- Oil prices rose Wednesday, recovering from a five-week low hit in the prior session as the prospect of tighter U.S. sanctions against the buyers of Russian oil offered some support.
At 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT), Brent oil futures for October rose 1.5% to $68.67 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.6% to $66.18 a barrel.
Russian oil sanctions in focus
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday kept up his threats of increasing trade tariffs against India, over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Trump said he will impose additional tariffs on India this week, after last week slapping the country with 25% reciprocal tariffs.
The U.S. president chided New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil, which he claimed were funding Russia’s war with Ukraine.
India has rejected Trump’s criticism, with reports suggesting that New Delhi will continue to buy Russian oil in the near-term. India is heavily dependent on oil imports, shipping in roughly 80% of its crude requirements.
"If India were to stop buying Russian oil amid tariff threats, we believe the market would be able to cope with the loss of this supply. It would wipe out the surplus we’re expecting in the market through the latter part of this year and much of 2026. This would leave some upside to prices, but a manageable one," said analysts at ING, in a note.
"The bigger risk is if other buyers also start to shun Russian oil. This would require OPEC to tap into its spare production capacity quickly and aggressively to balance the market. This could result in significant further upside for prices."
"We should get more clarity later this week, with President Trump’s deadline for Russia to strike a deal with Ukraine on Friday. There’s a US delegation visiting Russia this week. Reports are that President Putin may be willing to offer some concessions, such as an air truce, in order to avoid stricter sanctions and secondary tariffs," ING added.
Oil was also encouraged by API data showing a substantially bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. oil inventories last week-- 4.2 million barrels, against expectations for a 1.8 million barrel draw.
Oil nurses steep losses on oversupply fears, demand jitters
But despite Wednesday’s gains, oil prices have been nursing steep losses in recent sessions.
Crude’s latest downturn came after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies agreed to increase production by 547,000 barrels a day in September.
The cartel has steadily increased production this year, drumming up concerns of oversupplied markets in the second half of 2025.
A swathe of weak economic readings from the U.S. and China, released in the past week, also drove up fears of sluggish growth and slowing demand in the world’s biggest oil consumers.
Amber Warrick contributed to this article
But oil’s gains were limited, while the recovery also appeared fragile amid sustained concerns over increased OPEC+ production and weak global demand.