21 May (Argus) — Ice Brent crude futures posted gains in early Asian trading hours, as a potential nuclear deal between the US and Iran fizzled out.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month July Brent contract was at $66.36/bl, up by 98¢/bl from its settlement on 20 May when the contract ended 16¢/bl lower.
The Nymex front-month July crude contract was at $63.02/bl, higher by 99¢/bl from its settlement on 20 May when the contract ended 11¢/bl lower.
US president Donald Trump's administration will provide only limited relief of oil sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to a deal ending its entire uranium enrichment program, while other sanctions targeting Iran's economy could remain in place, secretary of state Marco Rubio told a US Senate panel.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking in Tehran before Rubio's remarks, slammed US demands on uranium enrichment as "utter nonsense" and expressed doubts about the success of US-Iranian negotiations.
The comments from Tehran and Washington mark a departure from a more upbeat tone the two countries have used to describe the first four rounds of talks between senior US and Iranian diplomats in April-May. Trump — during a tour of the Mideast Gulf last week — went as far as to claim that Iran "sort of" agreed to his terms, helping pile pressure on oil prices as a new US-Iran agreement could have removed sanctions constraints on nearly 1mn b/d of Iran's crude exports.
Meanwhile, Iraq's federal oil ministry has rejected two major gas development agreements signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with US firms, calling them unconstitutional and in violation of federal court rulings. The deals, worth a combined $110bn over their lifetimes, involve developing the 8 trillion ft³ Miran gas field and the Topkhana-Kurdamir blocks, estimated to hold 5 trillion ft³ of gas and 900mn bl of oil.
Baghdad maintains that oil and gas resources must be managed centrally, and that the contracts are invalid under Iraq's constitution and supreme court rulings. The ministry recognised the need for greater gas investment to address chronic power shortages, but it stressed that such efforts must align with federal oversight. The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between Baghdad and Erbil over the control of natural resources.
Elsewhere, the EU has formally adopted further sanctions against Russia, including on oil company Surgutneftegaz and 200 'shadow fleet' tankers and their operators.
The measures bring the number of designated vessels to 342, including 189 third-country vessels. These are all subject to a port access and services ban. Shipping companies and persons linked to the shadow fleet also face asset freezes. The new sanctions affect only 8pc of the vessels that are currently carrying, loading or discharging refined oil products from Russia, according to trade analytics firm Vortexa. Overall, 15pc of tankers currently carrying Russian products in transit are sanctioned.
The measures extend, until 28 June 2026, the exemption from the G7 oil price cap for transport of crude from Russia's Sakhalin-2 to Japan.
21 May (Argus) — Ice Brent crude futures posted gains in early Asian trading hours, as a potential nuclear deal between the US and Iran fizzled out.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month July Brent contract was at $66.36/bl, up by 98¢/bl from its settlement on 20 May when the contract ended 16¢/bl lower.
The Nymex front-month July crude contract was at $63.02/bl, higher by 99¢/bl from its settlement on 20 May when the contract ended 11¢/bl lower.
US president Donald Trump's administration will provide only limited relief of oil sanctions against Iran if Tehran agrees to a deal ending its entire uranium enrichment program, while other sanctions targeting Iran's economy could remain in place, secretary of state Marco Rubio told a US Senate panel.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking in Tehran before Rubio's remarks, slammed US demands on uranium enrichment as "utter nonsense" and expressed doubts about the success of US-Iranian negotiations.
The comments from Tehran and Washington mark a departure from a more upbeat tone the two countries have used to describe the first four rounds of talks between senior US and Iranian diplomats in April-May. Trump — during a tour of the Mideast Gulf last week — went as far as to claim that Iran "sort of" agreed to his terms, helping pile pressure on oil prices as a new US-Iran agreement could have removed sanctions constraints on nearly 1mn b/d of Iran's crude exports.
Meanwhile, Iraq's federal oil ministry has rejected two major gas development agreements signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with US firms, calling them unconstitutional and in violation of federal court rulings. The deals, worth a combined $110bn over their lifetimes, involve developing the 8 trillion ft³ Miran gas field and the Topkhana-Kurdamir blocks, estimated to hold 5 trillion ft³ of gas and 900mn bl of oil.
Baghdad maintains that oil and gas resources must be managed centrally, and that the contracts are invalid under Iraq's constitution and supreme court rulings. The ministry recognised the need for greater gas investment to address chronic power shortages, but it stressed that such efforts must align with federal oversight. The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between Baghdad and Erbil over the control of natural resources.
Elsewhere, the EU has formally adopted further sanctions against Russia, including on oil company Surgutneftegaz and 200 'shadow fleet' tankers and their operators.
The measures bring the number of designated vessels to 342, including 189 third-country vessels. These are all subject to a port access and services ban. Shipping companies and persons linked to the shadow fleet also face asset freezes. The new sanctions affect only 8pc of the vessels that are currently carrying, loading or discharging refined oil products from Russia, according to trade analytics firm Vortexa. Overall, 15pc of tankers currently carrying Russian products in transit are sanctioned.
The measures extend, until 28 June 2026, the exemption from the G7 oil price cap for transport of crude from Russia's Sakhalin-2 to Japan.
By YouLiang Chay