Oil rises as markets tighten ahead of Iran sanctions
[SINGAPORE] Oil prices rose on Monday as US markets tightened just weeks ahead of Washington's plan to impose new sanctions against Iran.
Brent crude futures were at US$79.74 per barrel at 0036 GMT, up by 94 cents, or 1.2 per cent.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 74 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to US$71.52 a barrel.
The market was "increasingly concerned about dwindling (US) inventories," ANZ bank said on Monday.
US commercial crude oil inventories are at their lowest level since early 2015. And while output remains around the record of 11 million barrels per day (bpd), recent subdued US drilling activity points towards a slowdown.
The tightening US market came ahead of sanctions that Washington plans to implement against Iran's petroleum exports from early November, which many analysts expect to result in a drop of more than 1 million bpd of crude exports.
The Middle East dominated Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), of which Iran is a member, as well as top producer Russia are discussing raising output by 500,000 bpd to counter falling supply from Iran, although the discussions are not finalised.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Energy & Commodities
BHP’s biggest rivals sit on the sidelines of Anglo M&A drama
ExxonMobil to take 18 to 24 months to hit full stride with Pioneer purchase
Oil settles down on US jobs data, steepest weekly loss in three months
Glencore Group nears deal for Shell’s Singapore oil refinery
Opec+ may need to tackle oil capacity conundrum next month
Gold flat ahead of US payrolls data, set for second weekly drop