Oil hits one-week high as China calls US Iran sanctions bluff
International markets prepare for US sanctions against Iran but China continues to buy its oil, and the US-China trade dispute threatens global economic growth
New York — Oil rose to its highest in a week on Tuesday, buoyed by the prospect of price support from US sanctions on Iran, although the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing kept traders and analysts cautious. Brent crude futures rose 28c to $72.49 a barrel by 3.50pm GMT. The global benchmark earlier hit $72.95 a barrel, the highest level since August 14. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for October delivery, the most active contract, rose 58c to $66.00. The September contract expires later on Tuesday and was trading at 82c to $67.25 a barrel. September WTI’s premium to the October contract widened to as much as $1.69 a barrel on Tuesday, after narrowing since the beginning of August. The front-month spread widened significantly in July after an unexpected outage at Canada’s oil sands facility dented flows of crude into Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for US futures. The Syncrude facility has since begun ramping up light oil production, a move that surpri...
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