Oil rises as threat recedes of Iran supply resuming soon

Tuesday,   15-Jun-2021   09:41 AM (IST)

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent gaining for a fourth consecutive session, as the prospect of extra supply coming to the market soon from Iran faded with talks dragging on over the United States rejoining a nuclear agreement with Tehran. Brent crude was up by 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $73.03 a barrel by 0347 GMT, having risen 0.2% on Monday. U.S. oil gained 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $71.03 a barrel, having slipped 3 cents in the previous session. Indirect discussions between the United States and Iran, along with other parties to the 2015 deal on Tehran's nuclear programme, resumed on Saturday in Vienna and were described as "intense" by the European Union. A U.S. return to the deal would pave the way for the lifting of sanctions on Iran that would allow the OPEC member to resume exports of crude. Other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) along with major producers including Russia - a group known as OPEC+ - have been withholding output to support prices amid the pandemic. Still, prices were off their highs earlier in the day with U.S. crude briefly tripping into negative territory. The Fed is getting ready to starting debating how and when to start tapering a massive asset-purchase program that helped helped support the U.S. economy during the pandemic.