Oil prices rose amid the US tightening sanctions against Iran and Russia, offsetting a partial decline on Thursday after a harsh demand forecast from the International Energy Agency, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
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Brent rose above $70 a barrel after falling 1.5% in the previous session, and West Texas Intermediate cost about $67. The White House imposed sanctions on Iran's oil minister and other companies and vessels used to transport OPEC members' oil, and restricted the ability to pay for Russian energy.
The decline on Thursday came after the IEA said the supply surplus would deepen as escalating trade war pressures demand at a time when OPEC+ is restoring production. WTI is one step away from its eighth consecutive weekly decline, which would be the longest stretch since August 2015, as global benchmark Brent is close to its fourth weekly decline.
"The loss of balance in the second half of the year should lead to Brent crude rising to $70 a barrel by the end of the year," ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. analysts Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said in a note. But, reportedly, there is some short-term growth, as "tariffs on Canadian oil and growing supply disruptions from Iran and Venezuela are keeping the market tense".