DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Climb on Iranian Crude Trade Sanctions
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Oil futures rose on Monday after the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of State imposed sanctions Monday on Iranian crude trade.
The sanctions target over 30 individuals and vessels that presumably participated in the sale and transportation of Iranian petroleum.
"Among those sanctioned today are oil brokers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, tanker operators and mangers in India and People's Republic of China, the head of Iran's National Iranian Oil Company, and the Iranian Oil Terminals Company, whose operations help finance Iran's destabilizing activities," according to a Department of the Treasury statement released Monday.
The front-month NYMEX WTI futures edged up by $0.46 to $70.86 bbl while the April ICE Brent futures contract rose by $0.43 to $74.86 bbl. ULSD futures contract for March delivery increased by $0.0140 to $2.4463 gallon. In contrast, March RBOB futures contract fell by $0.0083 to $2.0184 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index rose by 0.07% to 106.59 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Stricter sanctions on Russian and Iranian crude were expected to put upward pressure on oil prices, but increasing U.S. crude inventories in recent weeks, coupled with sluggish global demand and the volatility generated by the trade tariff war, have offset the bullish sentiment in the oil futures market.
Meanwhile, the restarting of Iraqi oil exports from the Kurdistan region in a week is also expected to add more pressure on oil prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently ordered Iraq to allow the restart of Kurdish oil exports through a pipeline running from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Turkey, which has been closed since March 2023, according to media reports.
In January, Trump requested that Saudi Arabia and OPEC to increase their oil production, arguing that if oil prices dropped, it would help to end the Russia-Ukraine war immediately.
