Oil prices rise on US sanctions, OPEC supply cuts
Oil prices continued to rise on Thursday, driven by expectations of tighter global supply.
The gains came after the U.S. government introduced additional sanctions aimed at restricting Iran’s oil exports, while some OPEC members committed to deeper production cuts to offset previous overproduction, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Brent crude futures rose 55 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.40 a barrel by 0321 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.13 a barrel, up 66 cents, or 1.1%.
Both benchmarks settled 2% higher on Wednesday at their highest levels since April 3 and are on track for their first weekly rise in three. Thursday is the last settlement day of the week ahead of the Good Friday and Easter holidays.
President Donald Trump's administration issued new sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports on Wednesday, including against a China-based "teapot" oil refinery, ramping up pressure on Tehran amid talks on the country's escalating nuclear programme.
Adding to supply concerns, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday it had received updated plans for Iraq, Kazakhstan and other countries to make further output cuts to compensate for pumping above quotas.
Still, OPEC, the International Energy Agency and several banks, including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, cut forecasts on oil prices and demand growth this week as U.S. tariffs and retaliation from other countries threw global trade into disarray.
The World Trade Organization said it expected trade in goods to fall by 0.2% this year, down from its expectation in October of a 3.0% expansion.
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