Crude oil futures closed higher on Friday, on the back of new U.S. sanctions on Iran and a fresh OPEC+ plan for seven members to cut output. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions targeting Chinese refineries and vessels involved in importing Iranian crude, intensifying Washington's 'maximum pressure' campaign to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero.
Benchmark crude oil futures for April surged slightly by $0.02 to $68.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery surged $0.16 or about 0.22% to settle at $ 72.16 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.