Oil prices rose on Wednesday, pushed up by ongoing supply cuts from producer cartel OPEC and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.
International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $66.85 a barrel at 0341 GMT, up 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close, Reuters said.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $57.12 per barrel, up 25 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last settlement.
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Oil prices have been pushed up this year by supply cuts led by the Middle East dominated producer group of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Markets have been further tightened by the implementation of U.S. sanctions against oil exports from OPEC-members Iran and Venezuela.
Despite this, not all indicators point to an ever tighter market.
National Australia Bank (NAB) said the oil market outlook was mixed, with downside price risk coming from economic growth concerns and strong oil supply growth from the United States, with OPEC's supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela acting as price drivers.
"On balance, we see a very gradual uptrend for oil this year, with Brent forecast to reach $70 per barrel by the end of the year," NAB said.
U.S. crude oil production is expected to average about 12.30 million bpd in 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.
