Oil prices finish higher as IMF move threatens Venezuelan output

After trading on a mixed note for much of Wednesday’s session, oil prices settled decidedly higher, as the International Monetary Fund’s threat to expel Venezuela reignited market concerns over the struggling nation’s crude production. The IMF news broke not long before futures prices settled. Prices had been pressured by a weekly rise in U.S. crude supplies that was more than three times higher than expected, but they had also found support from global inventory risks tied to the possibility of the U.S. pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement. More…