Oil prices stumble, but Iran sanction fears limit losses

[May 01, 2018]   By Libby George

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slid on Tuesday as the dollar remained near a four-month high, but worries that U.S. President Donald Trump will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal underpinned the market.

Brent crude <LCOc1> for July delivery was trading 58 cents lower at $74.11 by 1157 GMT. The June contract expired on Monday, settling up 53 cents at $75.17.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery <CLc1> was 70 cents down at $67.87 a barrel, after settling 47 cents higher on Monday.

Oil prices rose on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented what he called evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program. Tehran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.

But analysts said the lack of a smoking gun took some of the heat out of oil prices. Olivier Jakob of PetroMatrix said the announcement "did not bring anything new to the table," and the market therefore shed some of the previous day's gains.

"It shows how much the market has already priced in the expectation that Trump will not extend the waivers," he said.

Trump has given Britain, France and Germany a May 12 deadline to fix what he views as the flaws of the 2015 nuclear deal, or he will reimpose sanctions.
 

An oil pump jack is seen at sunset in a field outside Scheibenhard, near Strasbourg, France, October 6, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

A strong U.S. dollar, which makes oil more expensive to holders of other currencies, also weighed. On Tuesday, the U.S. dollar index <.dxy> versus a basket of other currencies hit its highest since January.

Still, crude prices were within striking distance of a more than three-year high hit in late April, and analysts said the market is sensitive to any developments on Iranian sanctions.

Falling OPEC oil output, which hit a one-year low in April, also supported prices.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude production jumped 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a record high of 10.26 million bpd in February, the Energy Information Administration said on Monday.

U.S. crude inventories likely rose by 1.3 million barrels last week, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday ahead of data by the Industry group the American Petroleum Institute later in the day. [EIA/S] [API/S]

(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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