Oil prices steady post four-day rally, focus shifts to White House meeting on Iran

Oil prices steadied after notching their biggest four-day gains in over six months as US officials were set to discuss Iran during a White House meeting.

West Texas Intermediate was near $61 a barrel, after adding over 9% over the previous four sessions. Meanwhile, Brent ended above $65 on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to continue protests

against the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before the meeting and said he would “act accordingly” once he gets a sense for how many of the demonstrators have been killed.

Traders are closely watching the political unrest in Iran and possible American intervention, which could threaten the country’s roughly 3.3 million barrels-per-day oil production. Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News that the US would “happily be a commercial partner” to get “better price realizations” for Iranian crude if the regime fell.

The turmoil in OPEC’s fourth-largest producer, along with upheaval in Venezuela, has reinserted a premium into oil prices following a run of five monthly losses spurred by expectations for a glut. The rally has caught off guard a market that was steeped with bearish bets.

Elsewhere, an industry report indicated US crude stockpiles rose 5.3 million barrels last week. That would be the biggest increase in two months if confirmed by official data later Wednesday.

In the Black Sea, two oil tankers were attacked near the loading terminal for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. That has complicated Kazakhstan’s crude exports, with planned shipments already affected by bad winter weather and mooring damage.

With inputs from Bloomberg

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