Headlines
Oil gains on short-covering, nuclear talks
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Oil prices rose due to short-covering and concerns over U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Brent and WTI crude futures saw slight gains.
By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices gained on Friday as U.S. buyers covered positions ahead of the three-day Memorial Day weekend amid worries over the latest round of nuclear talks between American and Iranian negotiators.
Brent crude futures settled at $64.78 a barrel, up 34 cents, or 0.54%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $61.53, up 33 cents, or 0.54%.
"I think there is some short-covering going into this weekend," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.
The Memorial Day weekend kicks off the U.S. summer driving season, the period of highest demand for motor fuels.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in Rome on Friday in another round of talks aimed at curtailing the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Traders are afraid crude supplies could be interrupted if talks fail to reach a deal, Flynn said.
"The talks are not looking good," he said. "If these are the last talks and there's no deal, it could give a green light to the Israelis to attack Iran."
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is recommending a straight 50% tariff on goods from the EU starting on June 1, saying the bloc has been hard to deal with on trade.
"The oil market has been under pressure from two things," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "We await the impact of tariffs on oil demand and OPEC+ is expected to increase supply again this summer."
OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia is holding meetings next week expected to yield another output increase of 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for July.
Reuters reported this month that the group could unwind the rest of its 2.2 million bpd voluntary production cut by the end of October, having already raised output targets by about 1 million bpd for April, May and June.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Siyi Liu; Editing by Susan Fenton, David Goodman, Deepa Babington and Cynthia Osterman)
Oil prices gained due to U.S. buyers covering positions ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, along with concerns over the latest nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Traders are worried that if the nuclear talks fail, it could lead to interruptions in crude supplies, potentially prompting military actions.
OPEC+ is expected to meet next week to discuss increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day, which could impact global oil prices.
President Trump mentioned a proposed 50% tariff on EU goods, which raises concerns about its potential impact on oil demand in the market.
The Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of the U.S. summer driving season, a period characterized by the highest demand for motor fuels.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
