Aug 09, 2022 03:41AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
Oil prices pulled back slightly on Tuesday on the latest progress in last-ditch talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, which would clear the way to boost its crude exports in a tight market.
Brent crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.1%, to $96.51 a barrel at 0404 GMT, paring a 1.8% gain from the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $90.60 a barrel, after climbing 2% in the previous session.
The European Union late on Monday put forward a "final" text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, awaiting approvals from Washington and Tehran. A senior EU official said a final decision on the proposal was expected within "very, very few weeks".
He said Iran could boost its oil exports by 1 million-1.5 million barrels per day, or up to 1.5% of global supply, in six months.
However, signs that demand may not be dented as much as feared are keeping a floor under the market for now, following stronger-than-expected trade data from China on the weekend and the surprising acceleration in U.S. jobs growth in July.
The oil market has remained under pressure recently over global recession fears, with Brent prices last week suffering their biggest weekly drop since April 2020.
China, the world's largest crude oil importer, brought in 8.79 million barrels per day of crude in July, 9.5% lower from a year earlier but up from June's import volumes, according to China's customs data.
Traders will also be watching out for weekly U.S. oil inventory data, first from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and then the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Five analysts polled by Reuters expect crude stockpiles fell by around 400,000 barrels and gasoline stockpiles declined also by about 400,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 5, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and jet fuel, were unchanged. (This story corrects to state that Brent's weekly fall was largest since April 2020)