Oil up 2% as Trump Threatens New Sanctions on Iran

Oil Prices Increase 2% Amid Trump's Iran Sanctions Threat

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices settled nearly 2% higher on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Iran after a fourth round of U.S.-Iran talks was postponed.

Brent crude futures settled at $62.13 a barrel, up $1.07, 1.8%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed $1.03, or 1.8%, higher at $59.24 a barrel.

Trump said all purchases of Iranian oil or petrochemical products must stop and any country or person buying any from the country would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.

His comments follow the postponement of talks. which had been due to take place in Rome on Saturday, over Iran's nuclear program. A senior Iranian official told Reuters a new date will be set depending on the U.S. approach.

"If the Trump administration is successful in enforcing secondary sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil that could lead to a reduction in supply of about a million and a half, barrels per day," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

"These low prices of oil are giving the Trump administration cover to more strictly enforce those sanctions, especially at a time that OPEC+ is producing well over their quota and looking to increase production."

Several OPEC+ members are set to suggest the group accelerates output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, three people familiar with OPEC+ talks have said. Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide a June output plan.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is telling allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up the oil market with supply cuts and can manage a prolonged period of low prices, sources told Reuters.

On the demand side, however, the U.S. economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter, data showed on Wednesday, swamped by a flood of imports as businesses raced to avoid higher costs from tariffs and underscoring the disruptive impact of Trump's unpredictable trade policy. 

Trump's tariffs have made it probable the global economy will slip into recession this year, a Reuters poll suggested.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi, Editing by Marguerita Choy and Susan Fenton)