Iran can boost oil production by 500 000 barrels a day within a week of global curbs being lifted and, a month after that, by one million a day, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
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Crude oil dipped on Friday, plumbing multi-month lows and headed for a sixth straight week of losses, pressured by tumbling gasoline prices as the approaching end of the U.S. summer driving season suggested a growing surplus in fuel supply.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for September delivery CLU5, -0.45% gained 34 cents, or 0.8%, to $45 a barrel in electronic trading.
Brent crude for September delivery was trading on Friday at $44.83, on course for its eighth consecutive week of decline.
Tehran and six world powers reached a nuclear deal which is expected to increase the supply of Iranian crude.
“While we maintain our near-term WTI target of $45/bbl, we want to emphasize that the risks remain substantially skewed to the downside, particularly as we enter the shoulder months this autumn”, Goldman analysts including Jeffrey Currie said in the report dated Thursday. “For 2017, our forecast is that it will average just below $100 per barrel”, he said. S. contract, lost 540,000 barrels to 57.16 million barrels. The days when crude oil is worth more than $140 a barrel may be behind us, but a recovery is inevitable.
“Oil simply cannot seem to get a break proper now as a result of we’re seeing an entire lot of general negativity concerning the demand outlook, with the fears the Fed goes to boost rates of interest and considerations about demand in China”, stated Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.
“It is a continuation of a trend that has already started with global hydrocarbon majors such as ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips and Gazprom, among others, cutting down spending on exploration”, he said.
U.S. crude also slid 6 percent for the week, while losing about 26 percent in the last six weeks.
After a brief rebound in the spring, the market mood has turned as sombre as it was last winter, as few producers have shown any sign of cutbacks in response to low prices. Crude oil inventories fell for the seventh time in the last ten weeks.
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Bhandari said the drop in oil prices has so far benefited India, but any political change in the Gulf and Middle East could destabilise current equations.
