Commodity Data: Oil Prices Surge Ahead US Sanctions to Iran
COMMODITY DATA – On Friday, the oil prices inched up in Asia with the continuous prevention of markets on the impact of US sanctions against Iran that will be implemented on November.
Based on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the November delivery of Crude oil WTI Futures increased to 0.69% to $74.83 a barrel. Meanwhile, the December delivery of Brent Oil Futures made an increase of 0.46% to $84.97 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.
Although it recorded an almost four-year high earlier this week, oil prices declined as US crude inventories increased. This is along with the news regarding a private deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia in increase oil output.
“Crude oil prices drifted lower [on Thursday] on the combination of rising oil production in Saudi Arabia and Russia and a build-up of inventories in the U.S. That said, prices remained resilient as supply worries persist amid looming Iranian sanctions,” said ANZ on Friday.
On Thursday, an Iranian official said that the latest increase in oil prices counterbalances the effect of the US sanctions on Iran. Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization Head Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said that the oil revenue of the country increased 16% in the past six months.
“[U.S. President Donald Trump] thought he could shrink our country’s oil revenues by imposing sanctions on Iran’s oil sector and cutting its exports, but the rise in oil prices did not let that happen,” he said.
Elsewhere, Energy Minister Alexander Novak of Russia stated on Thursday that the oil prices can record $100 a barrel in the near future. This is because of the number of uncertainties, however; Novak argued that it will not be good for producers or customers, and the global economy.
Novak forecasted that these uncertainties will remain firm for at least another month. This will prolong until the market clarified the impact of the sanctions of the United States to Iran. Russia’s oil production reached a post-Soviet high of 11.36 million bpd.
On Thursday, Faith Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, encouraged countries to increase production.
“Some countries have been making efforts to increase production but this is far from comforting the markets right now. My expectation and hope are that the producers are aware of the sensitive situation and make their best efforts,” Birol said.
Commodity Data: Gold prices stay firm as dollar slightly changes
On Friday, gold prices remained firm while the dollar slightly changed amid the investors’ constant focus ahead of the US job data which is due within the day.
Based on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the December delivery of Gold futures remained firm at $1,201.60 per troy ounce.
The increase in the dollar followed a spike in Treasury yields on US data along with the Federal Reserve’s indications about its interest rate, continuing to increase.
The US dollar index was 95.50 following a record of an overnight high of 95.78.
