Oil prices rise but remain below $100 per barrel, awaiting US-Iran weekend negotiations

Mars Finance reports that ahead of the US-Iran negotiations this weekend, oil prices have risen but remain below $100 per barrel. Emmanuel Bellostriño, head of global crude oil and geopolitical market data at Kpler, said: “The outcome of the negotiations, especially whether a feasible shipping agreement can be reached, is a key variable in whether the current backlog can begin to ease.” During European morning trading, WTI and Brent crude oil prices briefly continued to rise, currently at $99.7 per barrel and $97.6 per barrel respectively. Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely frozen, and supply disruptions keep the market tense. Iran’s attacks on Saudi Arabia’s main current export routes (the east-west pipelines) have reduced the pipeline’s capacity by about 700k barrels per day.