Brent crude oil on Thursday rose above 75 dollars per barrel for the first time in 2019 in the wake of tightening sanctions on Iran, while gains in U.S. prices were crimped by a surge in U.S. supply.

Brent crude futures rose to a 2019 high of 75.01 dollars per barrel on Thursday and were at 74.90 dollars per barrel at 0705 GMT, up 33 cents, or 0.4 per cent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 65.94 dollars per barrel, up 5 cents from their previous settlement.

Traders said that Brent was receiving support on Thursday from a halt of Russian oil exports to Poland and Germany via a pipeline due to quality concerns.

The United States this week said it would end all exemptions for sanctions against Iran, demanding countries halt oil imports from Tehran from May or face punitive action from Washington.

“Following the U.S. decision to toughen its sanctions on Iran … we have revised up our end-year forecast for Brent crude from 50 to 60 dollars per barrel,” analysts at Capital Economics said in a note.

The U.S. decision to try and bring down Iran oil exports to zero comes amid supply cuts led by producer Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since the start of the year aimed at propping up prices.