Oil prices closed higher on Wednesday after a volatile trading session on concerns that the United States would consider additional concessions to Iran in its response to a draft agreement that would restore Tehran’s nuclear deal and possibly crude exports from the OPEC member. Tehran said it had received a response from the United States to the “final” text submitted by the European Union to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
The international benchmark Brent crude contracts ended the trading session with a high of $1, to settle at $101.22 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude contracts rose $1.15 to settle at $94.89 a barrel. Both benchmarks had fallen by more than a dollar a barrel earlier in the session.
Oil also found support after Saudi Arabia indicated this week that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may consider a production cut, but bleak economic signals from central banks and falling stocks limited the gains. Brent and US crude contracts touched three-week highs earlier in the day after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister raised the prospect of production cuts.
OPEC sources later told Archyde.com that any cuts from the OPEC+ group would likely coincide with the return of Iranian oil to the market if Tehran reaches a nuclear deal with world powers. Earlier in the session, crude prices fell after US government data showed tepid demand for gasoline, which indicates a marked slowdown in economic activity.
(Archyde.com)