New York, Jan 14, 2026, 06:50 EST — Premarket
- USO rises in premarket trade as crude extends a four-day run-up
- Iran supply-risk headlines keep a risk premium in the barrel price
- Traders await EIA stockpile data due after 10:30 a.m. ET
Crude oil prices were firmer early Wednesday, nudging oil-linked ETFs and U.S. energy stocks higher before the opening bell.
This matters now because the oil tape is being driven by geopolitics again, just as traders try to read whether U.S. supply is loosening. Moves in crude feed straight into fuel costs and inflation talk, and that can spill into rates and the wider market.
There’s also a split in the benchmarks. U.S. crude is trading cheap to Brent, the global marker, and that gap can shape export flows and refinery decisions in a hurry.
The United States Oil Fund LP (USO) was up about 2.5% at $73.48 in premarket trading. Exxon Mobil rose roughly 2% and Chevron gained nearly 1%.
Brent futures were up 84 cents, or 1.3%, at $66.31 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 81 cents to $61.96. “We are in a period of geopolitical instability and potential supply disruption,” said Jorge Montepeque, managing director at Onyx Capital Group, pointing to unrest in Iran and the risk of a hit to flows. 1
Citi raised its 0–3 month Brent target to $70 a barrel from $65, saying the rally could push beyond its earlier $55-$65 range as supply risks rise. “We now think this oil rally has room to extend,” analysts led by Francesco Martoccia wrote, while noting the protests have stayed away from Iran’s core oil regions so far. 2
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, reported U.S. crude stocks rose by 5.23 million barrels last week, with gasoline inventories up 8.23 million barrels and distillates up 4.34 million barrels, according to market sources. That puts the spotlight on whether the government report backs up the build story. 3
In the physical market, the WTI-Brent spread — the price gap between the U.S. benchmark and the global one — has widened as traders brace for more Venezuelan barrels landing at U.S. ports. WTI traded at a $4.76 a barrel discount to Brent on Tuesday, its widest since April, and the spread has moved about $1 wider since the U.S. ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3, Reuters reported, citing traders and analysts. “Relative WTI prices are expected to discount more steeply,” said Dylan White, director of North American crude markets at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. 4
A wider discount can leave WTI-linked products lagging even when Brent rallies. For funds like USO that sit on U.S. crude futures, that spread can start to matter as much as the headline move in Brent.
But the rally has its own tripwires. If the government data confirms big crude and fuel builds, or if Iran tensions cool without touching export flows, traders could pull back the “risk premium” — the extra price tied to fear of disruption.
