Crude Oil Recovers From Early Pullback To Close Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil came under pressure in early trading on Friday but rebounded over the course of the session to end the day modestly higher.

After falling as low as $67.65 a barrel, crude for May delivery climbed $0.23 or 0.3 percent to $68.30 a barrel.

Crude oil added to the jump seen on Thursday and posted is second consecutive gain, surging by 1.6 percent.

Geopolitical tensions remained on investors' radar after the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was sanctioning a "teapot refinery" based in China's Shandong province which bought Iranian oil worth "approximately half a billion dollars."

The oil in question was transported by Iran's so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers, according to the Treasury Department.

Meanwhile, OPEC+, which includes OPEC plus Russia and other allies, on Thursday issued a new schedule for seven-member nations to make further oil output cuts to make up for recent production increases.

The plan will entail monthly cuts of between 189,000 and 435,000 barrels per day, and will last until June 2026, according to a table on OPEC's web site.