NEW YORK: Brent crude oil rose yetserday and US crude fell in light trading, as support from geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Libya countered ample supplies and anticipated weak demand after a slew of disappointing economic data from the United States and Europe.
“Liquidity is down because of the holiday in London and the usual August vacation time, And while the market continues to see increasing geopolitical risk in Libya and the Russia, Ukraine situation, traders are more focused so far on concerns about slowing demand with the weak data from Europe and the United States,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
London financial markets are closed because of a national bank holiday.
Brent crude rose six cents to $102.35 a barrel by 12.38pm EDT (1638 GMT). It hit a 14-month low of $101.07 on August 19. US crude fell by 39 cents to $93.26 a barrel.
“The market’s range-bound; it’s consolidating and finding support against previous lows,” said Bill Baruch, senior market strategist at iitrader.com in Chicago.
Brent crude has traded largely within a $101 to $106 range in August, and U.S. crude has mostly remained between $93 and $99.
DUBAI: Iran has postponed by three months a conference to offer multinationals the rights to develop oil deposits, giving time for sanctions on the country’s oil sector to be lifted, a senior official said yesterday.
“We want to provide for all the companies to participate and we know they will have difficulties before November 24,” Mehdi Hosseini, the head of the Oil Contracts Revision Committee, said yesterday.
The London conference, previously scheduled for November 3, will take place in late February 2015. He expressed hope that Iran would reach a comprehensive nuclear deal with the world powers by the deadline.
Iran and six global powers have given themselves until November 24 to reach agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme whereby Iran would limit its atomic activities. In exchange, the West would lift sanctions that are hurting Iran’s oil-dependent economy.
“American companies have the most problems legally because of the sanctions. We thought it would be better to postpone the conference to provide an opportunity for them and all foreign companies to come back,” he said.
Agencies
