Investors will be looking for more clues on future supply from a meeting on Wednesday of a panel representing ministers of OPEC+.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are inching higher early Monday on a report that China plans to ship large volumes of U.S. crude in August and September, which outweighed concerns over a slowdown in demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and an uptick in supplies.
Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to transport at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, as China ramped up energy and farm purchases ahead of a review of the Sino-U.S. trade deal.
Iran Says OPEC has Raised and Stabilized Crude Oil Price: SHANA
“OPEC’s performance has been successful because the price of oil has risen from $16 in May to around $45 and has stabilized,” Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said.
OPEC and its allies including Russia, agreed to record output cuts to tackle the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Zanganeh said oil Iran’s oil industry has signed 13 contracts worth roughly 1.5 billion Euros with 14 local firms to enhance and maintain the country’s oil production.
In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have sharply cut Iran’s oil exports.
“We welcome the participation of all foreign companies in the development of oil industry projects except companies from Israel, but we will continue our work even without their participation in our projects,” Zanganeh said.
Fearing penalties, foreign companies have stayed away from investing in Iran. Tehran does not recognize Israel.
Daily Forecast
The trade looks to be a little light on Monday as investors await news from the OPEC panel meeting on August 19.
Investors will be looking for more clues on future supply from a meeting on Wednesday of a panel representing ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+.
The panel, called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), monitors OPEC+ production curbs agreed earlier this year. Last month, the JMMC recommended that cuts be eased from August 1 to about 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from a reduction of 9.7 million bpd since May, in line with an earlier OPEC+ agreement.
