Oil settles up $1/bbl as restart of Kurdish oil exports stalls
Oil prices settled up more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday after a deal to resume exports from Iraq's Kurdistan stalled, pacifying some investor concerns that the restart would exacerbate worries about global oversupply.
Brent crude futures settled up $1.06, or 1.6%, to $67.63 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.13, or 1.8%, to end at $63.41 a barrel. Both benchmarks recouped modest earlier losses.
Pipeline oil exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Turkey had yet to restart on Tuesday despite hopes of a deal to end the deadlock, as two key producers asked for debt repayment guarantees.
The deal between Iraq's federal and Kurdish regional governments and oil firms aims to resume exports of about 230,000 barrels per day of oil from Kurdistan to the global market via Turkey, halted since March 2023.
Brent and WTI had fallen for the previous four sessions, dropping around 3%.
Overall, the global oil market is bracing for elevated supply and slowing demand, hampered by the take-up of electric vehicles and economic pressures fueled by U.S. tariffs.
In its latest monthly report, the International Energy Agency said world oil supply would rise more rapidly this year and a surplus could expand in 2026 as OPEC+ members increase output and supply from outside the producer group grows.
Still, risks overhang the market as traders monitor the European Union's consideration of stricter sanctions on Russian oil exports, as well as any escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll on Monday showed.
The market awaits weekly oil stock data from the American Petroleum Institute, later on Tuesday.
Source : Reuters.com
