Oil is trading at almost the lowest for six months as fears of scarcity dissipate

London: Oil is trading at its lowest level in six months, while the end of the year has further retreated after the United States eased the resumption of sanctions against Iran.

Crude rose 0.6% in New York. Sanctions against Iran were reimposed on Monday, although eight countries were allowed to continue buying temporarily crude oil from that country, according to US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Hedge funds cut their upside for the eighth week as additional supplies from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the US eased fears of a potential deficit.

"The United States has turned back from its previous announcements" On Iran, said Carsten Fritsch, an badyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "So it's not surprising that speculators are bombarding their long net positions on crude oil, which is also weighing on prices."

sanctions to lower prices at the pump before the mid-term elections in the United States, while the other producers of OPEC are committed to compensate for any shortfall in supply. At the same time, a trade war between the world's two major economies has raised fears of a reduction in fuel demand even as President Donald Trump wanted to enter into a pact with China.

The West Texas Intermediate crude destined for delivery in December fell by as much as 1%. The New York Mercantile Exchange barrel hit $ 62.52 a barrel, the lowest since April 9, before rising 0.6% to $ 63.52 at 13:01 London time. Futures contracts slid 6.6% last week. The total volume traded on Monday was about 4% higher than the average 100 days.

The January Brent futures settlement rose 71 cents to $ 73.54 per barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe. Prices fell 6.2% last week, the biggest weekly drop in nine months. The world's benchmark crude oil trades at a premium of $ 9.86 over WTI for the same month.

Pompeo told reporters Monday that China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Greece and Turkey had obtained exemptions allowing them to continue buying oil Iranian temporarily. Iran can either change its behavior or see its economy collapse, he said.