Oil prices fall by more than 1% following the lifting of sanctions by Iran



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By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Tuesday as US crude futures hit their lowest level in eight months, a day after Washington granted penalty waivers. to the main buyers of Iranian oil. So far, it has been possible to sell as much oil as needed.

Brent crude futures fell by $ 1.04 to $ 72.13 per barrel, down 1.42%. The global benchmark reached a low of $ 71.18 a barrel, its lowest price since August 16th.

United States. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 89 cents, or 1.41%, to $ 62.21 a barrel. The lowest was $ 61.31 per barrel, its lowest price since March 16th.

Iran has stated that it has been up to now in a position to sell as much oil as it needs and has urged European countries opposed to US sanctions to protect more Iran

The United States on Monday reinstated sanctions targeting Iran's oil, banking and transportation sectors and threatened to take further action. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington aims to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero, but 180-day exemptions have been granted to eight importers: China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey.

Trade data indicate that three-quarters of Iran's oil exports by sea, which means that the Islamic Republic will still be allowed to export oil for the time being.

Industry estimates suggest that Iranian oil exports have fallen by 40 to 60 percent since the Trump declaration in May. it would reimpose penalties. Exemptions could, however, allow exports to increase again after November.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his country, one of Iran's leading oil importers, would not abide by the sanctions, which aimed to "unbalance the world". 19659002] Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates, said the sanctions would not raise oil prices.

"Although sanctions imposed by Iran must always be considered as a latent bullish element, it seems that the Iranian factor alone will not be able to raise prices without major aid from A renewed strengthening of equities, a lasting weakening of the US dollar or a significant reduction in OPEC production, "Ritterbusch said in a note.

on the demand for oil weighed on prices. The trade dispute between the United States and China threatens the growth of the world's two largest economies and the weakness of the currency weighs on the Asian economies.

On the supply side, crude oil production in the United States is expected to average 12.06 million barrels per day (bpd). ) In 2019, exceeding the threshold of 12 million barrels per day earlier than expected due to rising domestic shale production, said Tuesday the US Energy Information Administration.

Crude inventories increased by 7.8 million barrels during the week ending Nov. 2 to 432 million barrels, the data from the American Petroleum Institute industrial group said Tuesday. Analysts were expecting an increase of 2.4 million barrels.

The production of the three largest world producers increases. Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia together produced for the first time in October more than 33 million bpd, enough to cover more than one-third of world consumption, which stands at nearly 100 million bpd.

Saudi Arabia, first exporter of crude December price of its Arab Light product aimed at Asian customers.

Last week, hedge fund managers were net sellers of oil futures and options.

Morgan Stanley on Tuesday lowered its price forecast for Brent, saying the global benchmark would remain at $ 77.5 a barrel until mid-2019.

Chart: Crude oil production from Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia (https://tmsnrt.rs/2CTwqaq) [19659002program:IranianOilExports(https://tmsnrtrs/2PabBPs)[19659019] Graphic: Iranian oil exemptions granted to imports from 8 countries (https://tmsnrt.rs/2D30JeW)

(Report of Stephanie Kelly in New York, additional report by Shadia Nasralla in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; edition of Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)

(Only the title and photo of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff, and the rest of the content is generated automatically from a syndicated feed. )

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