Oil prices rise as a result of the report The United States will put an end to all derogations from the Iranian oil sanctions

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose 1 percent on Monday, as Brent reached its highest level since November, pulled by a report that the United States is preparing to announce that all Iranian oil imports will stop or be subject to sanctions.

Brent crude futures reached a high of $ 72.70 per barrel at 11:00 am GMT in November 2018, up 1% from their last close.

The WTI futures price (West Texas Intermediate) was $ 64.70 per barrel, up 1% from their previous settlement.

The United States is preparing to announce Monday that all Iranian oil buyers will have to stop importing or be subject to US sanctions, a Washington Post editorial said on Sunday.

Reuters has not been able to verify the report independently. A spokesman for the state department declined to comment.

The United States reimposed sanctions in November on Iranian oil exports after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

Washington has, however, granted eight major oil buyers in Iran, mainly in Asia, exemptions from the sanctions that allowed them to make limited purchases for six months.

The report is part of an oil market already relatively tense.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce that "as of May 2, the State Department will no longer grant sanctions to any country that currently imports crude or condensate. Iranian, "said post columnist Josh Rogin, citing two department officials he did not name.

"The path of least resistance remains high (for oil prices)," said Stephen Innes, head of transactions at SPI Asset Management, referring to cuts in the Saudi bid, the decline in the number of oil companies. US drilling rigs and supply interruptions between Libya and Venezuela. a tight market.

US energy companies have reduced the number of oil rigs operating from two to 825, said Baker Hughes, an energy services company of General Electric Co., in its weekly report Thursday.

Outside the United States, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has since the beginning of the year reduced supply to tighten global oil markets and reduce oil prices. support crude prices.

Brent prices rose by more than a third this year, while WTI grew by more than 40% over the same period.

(Report by Henning Gloystein, edited by Joseph Radford)