(New York) Oil prices, down slightly at the close, had a choppy session on Thursday after reports – since denied by the White House – of a near agreement between the United States and Iran on oil sanctions .
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in August, fell 1.29% to 75.96 dollars.
Its US equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery, fell 1.70% to $71.29.
In session, the two prices fell much more, the barrel of WTI falling to 69.17 dollars, a low for more than a week.
A Middle East Eye article reported that talks took place on American soil between Iran and the United States and led to progress towards a temporary agreement that would eliminate some sanctions if Iran reduces its uranium enrichment activities.
Brokers reacted by selling oil, while a return of Iranian exports could eventually represent more than one million barrels per day, a significant volume.
However, the White House quickly denied this information and crude oil prices caught up.
“This information is false and misleading,” a National Security Council spokesperson said. “Any idea of a temporary deal is fallacious,” he added.
“I was very skeptical about it,” responded Andrew Lebow of Commodity Research Group, “and the denial from the White House didn’t surprise me.”
“There is still a long way to go before reaching an agreement” on the Iranian nuclear, he assured.
More broadly, oil demand “is and will remain influenced by the performance of the global economy”, which for now remains bleak, comments Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Energy.
The euro zone entered a technical recession at the start of the year with a decline in GDP for two consecutive quarters, of 0.1% between January and March after a drop of the same magnitude from October to December, according to revised data, published Thursday by Eurostat.
“Economic data and interest rate decisions will have a huge influence on investor thinking,” he continues.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are indeed meeting next week to decide on their monetary policy.
