Around 3:45 p.m., Brent took 1.02% to 94.49 dollars. In New York, WTI rose 0.76% to $90.90.
Oil prices rose on Monday following starting the session in the red, driven by heightened tensions around Ukraine but channeled by a possible “imminent” agreement on the Iranian nuclear file.
Around 2:45 p.m. GMT (3:45 p.m. CET), the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for delivery in April rose 1.02% to $94.49.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April, which is the first day of use as a benchmark contract, rose 0.76% to 90.90 dollars.
“The ongoing diplomatic steps have not allowed the pressure on the price of oil to be released, the barrel of Brent rising to 94 dollars”, comments Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Russia said on Monday that it had killed five “saboteurs” from Ukraine on its soil, fueling fears of an imminent invasion of the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Monday that he was to meet his American counterpart Antony Blinken in Geneva on Thursday.
The Kremlin, however, deemed Monday “premature” to speak of the holding of a summit of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden to defuse the Russian-Western crisis around Ukraine.
Russia is one of the three largest oil producers in the world, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States. Investors fear disruptions in the supply of crude in an already tight market.
Tensions in Ukraine are expected to be a “positive catalyst” for oil prices, but rising prices remain held back by Iran nuclear talks, said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
“Investors are considering the possibility of a deal with Iran that would unlock Iranian oil exports… Therefore, the bullish sentiment is no longer as strong as at the beginning of last week,” said the analyst.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday that an agreement on the Iranian nuclear file would be “imminent”.
On Monday, the Iranian foreign minister assured that “significant progress” had been made and that the number of obstacles still outstanding had been “significantly reduced”.
Participation in the market by Iran, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has been severely limited since 2018 and the reinstatement of US economic sanctions by Donald Trump’s administration.
A return of Iran to full export capacity in the market might reverse the current state of the world’s black gold supply.
“Despite the optimism regarding the return of Iranian supply, the prospect of such a return still seems very remote and is not likely to happen soon,” said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.
