Oil rises on Saudi Arabia tensions and looming Iran sanctions
Politics are pushing up prices, with Riyadh threatening to retaliate to any potential backlash over Khashoggi, and uncertainty over how much Iranian oil will be off the market when sanctions kick in
London — Oil edged above $80 a barrel on Monday, lifted by nervousness over a worsening diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and the West, just two weeks before US sanctions potentially choke off Iranian crude supplies. Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih told Russia’s TASS news agency that his country had no intention of unleashing a 1973-style oil embargo on Western consumers, but rather was focused on raising output to compensate for supply losses elsewhere, such as Iran. Several US lawmakers have suggested imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, while the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, pledged to retaliate to any sanctions with “bigger measures”. Falih said Saudi Arabia would soon raise output to 11-million barrels a day from the current 10.7-million. He added that Riyadh had capacity to increase output to 12-million barrels a day and Gulf Opec ally, the United Arab Emirates, could add a further 200,000 barrels a d...
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