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| Oil prices edged up on Monday, buoyed by strong demand over the summer and stalled talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal that could lead to a resumption of crude supplies from OPEC producers. |
Brent crude rises
Brent crude for August delivery was up 23 cents, or 0.3%, at $73.74 a barrel.
WTI Up
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for July delivery was up 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $71.93 a barrel. Both benchmarks have risen over the past four weeks on optimism about global COVID-19 vaccination developments and forecasts for increased travel over the summer.
Asian and European Spot Premium
The rebound has pushed the spot premium for crude in Asia and Europe to multi-month highs. Negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal stalled on Sunday after a hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi won the country's presidential election.
Two diplomats said they expected a break of about 10 days. Iranian and Western officials say Raisi's rise is unlikely to change Iran's negotiating position.
The deal could see Iran export an additional 1 million barrels per day, or 1% of global supply, for more than six months from its storage facilities. Oil prices also found support from forecasts for limited growth in US oil production, giving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) more power to manage the market in the short term before a potential strong rise in shale oil production in 2022.
However, the U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future oil production, rose eight weeks ago to 373, the highest since April 2020, data from energy services firm Baker Hughes Co showed.