Oil goes up after Iran, Iraq signal hopes for agreement

According to media reports, oil prices moved up after Iran showed signs of agreement on supply-cut deal and Iraq said it has new proposals to support OPEC’s unity before next week’s meeting in Vienna. Upon these developments, West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved above $46/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday’s daily trading after having closed as low as $43.32/bbl and hitting an almost two-month-low early last week . Brent for January also climbed above $47 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after seeing as low as $43/bbl early last week and closed the past week at $46.86.

According to Iran’s Shana news service, members will probably reach a consensus about the oil output deal before the meeting on November 30 with the members’ renewed diplomatic efforts, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

The group has been trying to cut oil output for the first time in eight years. However, the members are facing difficulties in reaching an agreement as Iran wants to boost its production following the sanctions and Iraq wants to be exempt from the new regulation to be able to fund the ongoing wars in the country.