Oil set for weekly gain on Iran sanctions, OPEC+ plan to rein in overproduction
Shafaq News/ Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Friday, and wereset for their second consecutive weekly gains, after fresh U.S. sanctions onIran and a new OPEC+ plan for seven members to cut output raised bets ontightening supply.
Brent crude futures climbed 42 cents, or 0.6%, to $72.40 per barrel by0026 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 45 cents, or 0.6%,to $68.52 a barrel.
On a weekly basis, both Brent and WTI were on track to rise about 2%,their biggest weekly gains since the first week of 2025.
The United States Treasury on Thursday announced new Iran-relatedsanctions, which for the first time targeted an independent Chinese refineramong other entities and vessels involved in supplying Iranian crude oil toChina.
That marked Washington's fourth round of sanctions against Iran sinceU.S. President Donald Trump in February vowed to reimpose a "maximumpressure" campaign on Tehran, pledging to drive the country's oil exportsto zero.
Analysts at ANZ Bank said they expect a 1 million barrels per day (bpd)reduction in Iranian crude oil exports because of tighter sanctions.
Vessel tracking service Kpler pegged Iranian crude oil exports at over1.8 million bpd in February, cautioning that the masking of Iranian vessel activitydue to sanctions could lead to revisions to those numbers.
Oil prices were also supported by a new OPEC+ plan announced Thursdayfor seven members to further cut output to make up for producing more thanagreed levels. The plan would represent monthly cuts of between 189,000 bpd and435,000 bpd, and will last until June 2026.
The plan will buffer all the supply increments that OPEC+ had previouslyannounced will take effect from next month, Kpler's head of Middle East energyAmena Bakr said in a post on social media service X.
OPEC+ earlier this month confirmed that eight of its members wouldproceed with a monthly increase of 138,000 bpd from April, reversing some ofthe 5.85 million bpd of output cuts agreed in a series of steps since 2022 tosupport the market.
(Reuters)
