Oil prices gain as traders focus on Iran tensions and stockpiles

Oil prices increased for the second day as traders focused on US-Iran tensions which have overshadowed signs of increasing supplies.

West Texas Intermediate increased towards $64 a barrel after it added over 1% on Wednesday and Brent ended above $69.

While US President Donald Trump signaled his goal was to reach a nuclear deal with Tehran — commenting after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — traders remain concerned about the potential for military strikes and risks to supply.

Crude has risen every week this year, with a single exception, as geopolitical tensions pushed futures higher, as the US intervened in Venezuela and then pivoted focus to Iran after a wave of protests challenged the Islamic Republic’s leadership. Still, banks maintain there’s abundant supply, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. saying this week that the surplus was appearing, but it was doing so in locations that are less significant for price-setting.

In the US, crude inventories jumped by 8.5 million barrels last week to hit the highest level since June, according to the Energy Information Administration. Later Thursday, the International Energy Agency is due to issue its monthly market outlook that may again point to a global glut.

OPEC+ output fell last month amid losses in Kazakhstan, Venezuela and Iran, the group said on Wednesday. The 22 nations of the alliance produced an average of 42.448 million barrels a day in January, 439,000 less than in December.

With inputs from Bloomberg

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