Iran’s Crude Oil Price Up 4.5%

Iran's crude oil prices continued to advance in the week to November 3, following the trail of international oil benchmarks which have rallied to their peak levels in more than two years.

The country's light oil gained $2.59 to $60.04 per barrel in the week. Iran Heavy, one of the country's main grades for export, settled up $2.52, or about 4.5%, to $57.47.

Both crudes rose around 4.5% in the week, Shana reported on Sunday, citing a report by the Oil Ministry.

Last week, Brent rose to $64.65 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude hit $57.92, their highest levels since mid-2015.

According to OPEC's latest monthly report published on Oct. 11, Iran Heavy settled up 7.3% at $52.27 in September from the previous month, reaching an average of $49.6 in 2017. The new OPEC report is due to be published on Monday.

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $61.72 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $61.61 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations in the weekend.

Oil is now trading about 15% higher from December 2016, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC countries, led by world's top producer Russia, agreed to cut supplies by 1.8 million barrels a day through March next year.

As part of the supply cut deal aimed at easing global inventories to their five-year average, Iran should produce around 3.8 million barrels a day. OPEC's data show the country has largely complied with the accord.

Global prices have been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks, buoyed by expectations on extending the oil deal by the end of 2018 when OPEC and non-OPEC producers meet in Vienna at the end of this month.

Prices have also drawn support from political tensions in the Middle East and supply disruptions in Iraq, the United States and elsewhere.

Oil majors are positive about extending the cuts.

“If OPEC cuts roll into the second half of the year, we anticipate crude oil stocks would get back into the top end of the historical range,” Brian Gilvary, BP's chief financial officer said this year, according to a Reuters report.

The London-based oil giant has benefitted from the rebound in oil market driven by OPEC-led cuts. BP posted a profit of $1.87 billion for the third quarter of 2017, beating analysts' projections of $1.58 billion, according to CNBC.

Prices also made gains last week by a sweeping purge of top officials and businessmen in Saudi Arabia. However, analysts do not expect the kingdom's political struggle to change the country's energy policies or impact the prices in the long term.

source: Financial Tribune