Oil closes higher on fresh supply concerns

Oil drilling rigs

Crude oil prices rose today, Jan. 28, amid supply disruption concerns as downward pressures that built up after Chinese company DeepSeek launched a low-cost artificial intelligence model eased.

Brent crude futures for March delivery rose 0.55%, or 41 cents, to $77.49 a barrel, after touching $78.18 earlier.

WTI crude futures for March delivery gained 0.8%, or 60 cents, to $73.77 a barrel, after touching $74.31 earlier in the session.

Prices were supported by expectations of disruption in Libyan supplies due to protests that threatened crude exports. However, futures contracts pared gains after the National Oil Corporation announced the resumption of shipments through the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, Reuters reported.

The American Petroleum Institute's report on oil inventories is expected to be released on Jan. 29, ahead of the official data from the US Energy Information Administration, amid expectations that crude inventories will rise by 1.1 million barrels after nine consecutive weeks of declines.