Kuwaiti Oil Minister: Markets Steady Despite Concerns over Iraq & Iran

Kuwaiti Oil Minister: Markets Steady Despite Concerns over Iraq & Iran

Despite simmering tensions in Iraq and uncertainty over the Iran nuclear agreement, world oil supplies have remained steady, according to the Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Essam El Marzouq, Reuters reports.

“Unit now there are no indications (of an impact on oil production) whether from the actions against Iran or in Iraq’s Kurdistan,” El Marzouq stated to the media, according to Reuters.

Earlier this week, Iraqi military forces seized the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces loyal to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the government of a semi-autonomous area in northern Iraq. Despite the military action, production from the oil fields, which remain under KRG control, has remained fairly constant, Reuters reported at the time.

In another move that could potentially roil oil markets, US President Donald Trump chose not to recertify the Iran nuclear agreement last week, setting off a 60-day window for the US Congress to decide whether to re-apply sanctions against the Iranian regime, according to the Washington Post.

These tensions combined with a fall in US crude inventories have caused oil prices to rise, according to traders interviewed by Reuters. Both Brent and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crudes are trading significantly higher than they were in June, according to Reuters.

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