Oil Trades Near Three-Year High as U.S. Raises Iran Pressure - Bloomberg

Oil Trades Near Three-Year High as U.S. Raises Iran Pressure - Bloomberg:

Oil traded near $82 a barrel as pressure on Iran escalated, with President Trump hardening rhetoric against the country and crude customer India cutting its imports to zero.

Brent futures were little changed in London after settling in the previous session at the highest since November 2014. With U.S. sanctions on Iran taking effect in less than two months, Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the leaders of the Islamic Republic “sow chaos, death and destruction.” Buyers are increasingly wary of Iranian crude, and India is not planning to import any in November, according to company officials.

Oil prices rose on Monday after OPEC signaled it won’t rush to release more oil into the market, shrugging off pressure from Trump who has been calling on the group to do more to temper gains. The prospect of tightening supplies due to a steep drop in Iran’s exports, Venezuela’s slumping output, and production bottlenecks in the U.S. prompted trading giants Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Trafigura Group to warn that oil could surge back above $100 a barrel.