ISLAMABAD
Crude oil prices rose slightly on Monday amid supply concerns despite renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
As of 1305 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained $0.60 (+0.64 percent) to reach $94.14 a barrel. On the other hand, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $91.60 a barrel, up by $0.53 (+0.58 percent). Both benchmarks reached multiple-year highs last week amid fears of possible supply constraints due to Russia-Ukraine tensions.
The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $95.32 a barrel with an increase of 0.62 percent, Arab Light was available at $92.08 a barrel with an increase of 0.63 percent and the price of Russian Sokol went up to $94.69 a barrel with 0.38 percent increase.
The recent oil rally started to subside late last week, following reports that a US-Iranian deal to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, also known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), was close to being agreed upon. A senior EU official said on Friday that the deal is expected “in the coming two weeks or so,” but that success depended on the political will of the negotiating parties.
On Sunday, Iranian lawmakers announced six conditions for the revival of the agreement in a letter to President Ebrahim Raisi. The letter stated, among other things, that the deal may come through if all sanctions on Iran are lifted and if Washington guarantees to introduce no more sanctions or other punitive steps against Tehran in the future. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday that a statement by the leaders of the US Senate and House of Representatives to back the nuclear deal would be a sufficient “political guarantee.”
If Iran goes through with the deal, the global market could gain a large influx of crude from the second half of 2022 onwards, experts said, which would calm worries of crude supply shortages.
