Oil Falls 2% on Possible Return of Iran Exports

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday, marking a third day of losses, after diplomats said progress was made toward a deal to lift US sanctions on Iran, which could boost crude supply.
Brent crude fell $1.55, or 2.3%, to settle at $65.11 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude ended $1.31, or 2.1%, lower at $62.05 a barrel. Both contracts fell around 3% in the previous session, Reuters reported.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech that sanctions on oil, shipping, petrochemicals, insurance and the central bank had been dealt with in the talks.
"That really weighed on sentiment and that pushed us down a little bit," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "There’s room in the global market for more Iranian oil but in the short term that’s what is weighing on us today."
But European diplomats said success was not guaranteed and very difficult issues remained.
Indian refiners and at least one European refiner are re-evaluating their crude purchases to make room for Iranian oil in the second half of this year, anticipating that US sanctions will be lifted, company officials and trading sources said.
"With global oil demand growth projected to be healthy for the balance of this year and in 2022, the OPEC+ producer group is in a relatively comfortable position to deal with increasing Iranian output without undermining the oil rebalancing," PVM analysts said.