London — Oil prices eased from three-and-a-half-year highs on Monday as resistance emerged in Europe and Asia to US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran, while rising US drilling pointed to higher North American production. Benchmark Brent crude was down 40c at $76.72 a barrel by 8am GMT. US light crude oil was down 35c at $70.35. Both oil futures contracts hit their highest since November 2014 last week at $78 and $71.89 a barrel respectively, as markets anticipated a sharp fall in Iranian crude supply once US sanctions bite later this year. It is unclear how hard US sanctions will hit Iran’s oil industry. A lot will depend on how other major oil consumers respond to Washington’s action against Tehran, which will take effect in November. China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and Iran all remain in the nuclear accord that placed controls on Iran’s nuclear programme and led to a relaxation of economic sanctions against Iran and companies doing business there. Some oil analys...
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