Oil prices sink $2/bbl on possible Iran oil exports, rising interest rates | Reuters

Oil prices sink $2/bbl on possible Iran oil exports, rising interest rates | Reuters

Oil prices slumped by about $2 a barrel on Thursday in volatile trade as investors braced for the possible return to global markets of sanctioned Iranian oil exports and on worries that rising U.S. interest rates would weaken fuel demand.

Brent crude settled at $99.34 a barrel, shedding $1.88, or 1.9%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $92.52 a barrel, losing $2.37, or 2.5%.

Talks between the European Union, the United States and Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are continuing, with Iran saying it had received a response from the United States to the EU's "final" text to resurrect the agreement.

"Nobody wants to jump in here and commit to a size position when you can get ambushed by an Iranian headline at any given moment," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho, citing thin trading volumes during the session.

Investors also were waiting for scheduled remarks on Friday by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Kansas City Fed’s Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. read more