08:40 AM EDT, 03/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Oil prices rose for a fifth-straight session early on Tuesday on supply concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that import oil from Venezuela.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for May delivery was last seen up US$0.51 to US$69.62 per barrel, while May Brent crude was up US$0.52 to US$73.52.

Donald Trump on Monday looked to ratchet up pressure on Venezuela by threatening buyers of the country's oil with stiff tariffs on their U.S. imports, a list that includes China, India and Spain. The move follows on Trump's decision last month to cancel Chevron's (CVX) license to import oil from the South American country, though he extended the company's license to continue imports to May 27.

U.S. imports from Venezuela totaled 226,000 barrels per day last week, about a fifth of the country's total exports according to the Energy Information Administration, making it the fourth largest supplier of U.S. oil imports.

The U.S. threats come after Trump last week tightened sanctions on Iranian oil exports as the U.S. measures are cut into supply and raise oil prices despite the administration's promises to lower gasoline prices.

"Apart from supporting additional short covering from underinvested hedge funds, this action indicates a definite change, potentially signalling the White House's willingness to sacrifice low oil prices to achieve wider strategic objectives - isolating Iran and Venezuela and increasing pressure on China," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, noted.

Still, supply is expected to rise next month as OPEC+ plans to begin returning 2.2-million barrels per day of production cuts to market in 18 monthly tranches beginning in April.