RIYADH: Crude prices went up on Wednesday after US fuel supplies tightened and a warning from the Saudi energy minister to speculators raised the prospect of further output cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+. Brent crude futures rose 56 cents, or 0.73 percent, to $77.40 a barrel at 11 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 65 cents, or 0.89 percent, to $73.56 a barrel. On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman vowed to keep short sellers “ouching” and told them to “watch out,” days before a planned OPEC+ meeting on June 4 in Vienna. In October 2022, OPEC+ had agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, which equals to about 2 percent of global demand, from November until the end of 2023. Later, in April 2023, the oil producers announced more cuts that lifted prices after a slump. Tullow Oil retains full-year production outlook Oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil on Wednesday maintained its 2023 production forecast of 58,000 bpd to 64,000 bpd. It said its capital expenditure of $400 million would be weighted toward the first half of the year. The company said net production in the first quarter of 2023 came in at 53,700 bpd. Qatar interested in developing Iraqi energy projects: minister Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said that Qatar is interested to explore energy projects in the country. Abdel-Ghani told Qatar News Agency on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum that the event provided an opportunity to announce a number of energy projects that Iraq wants to develop. The minister said that he discussed activating a number of projects in Iraq with Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs, who is also president and CEO of QatarEnergy. US renews license to oil service firms in Venezuela The US on Tuesday renewed for six months a license authorizing a group of American oil service companies to preserve assets in Venezuela, keeping long-standing restrictions that prevent them from drilling, processing, or handling any Venezuela-origin barrel of oil. The license, issued by the US Treasury Department, was first granted in 2019 to Halliburton Co. Schlumberger, Baker Hughes Co., and Weatherford International LLC, along with US producer Chevron Corp., by former President Donald Trump’s administration. In November, the Treasury gave Chevron a separate license to expand operations in Venezuela and export crude to the US but kept restrictions for the oil service companies. The license this time extended the authorization to the service firms for preserving their assets in Venezuela through Nov. 19, the document published by the Treasury said. (With input from Reuters)