Oil highest since 2018 with Iran deal elusive and OPEC talks due
US crude futures climbed to the highest in more than two-and-a-half years after the OPEC+ alliance forecast a tightening global market, while international efforts to revive a nuclear deal with Iran were yet to reach a breakthrough.
West Texas Intermediate rose as much as 3.2 per cent from Friday’s close to $68.42 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent topped $70, a level it has failed to hold for a sustained period since 2019.
The oil glut built up during the coronavirus pandemic has almost gone and stockpiles will slide rapidly in the second half of the year, according to an assessment of the market from an OPEC+ committee. A ministerial group is gathering in Vienna, before a full meeting that is expected to ratify a scheduled output increase for July.
