Oil prices traded little changed during Monday's Asian deals as investors awaited fresh talks between Washington and Tehran, with concerns over potential disruptions to crude flows from escalating U.S.-Iran tensions providing price support.
By 3 pm AEDT (4 am GMT) Brent crude futures slipped 3 cents to US$67.72 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased 3 cents oro 0.05% to $62.86 a barrel.
There will be no WTI settlement on Monday due to a public holiday in the United States.
Both benchmarks posted weekly losses last week, with Brent Crude down about 0.4% and West Texas Intermediate down 1%.
Prices fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington could reach a deal with Iran within the next month.
The two nations resumed negotiations earlier this month aimed at resolving their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme and avoiding renewed military confrontation.
A second round of talks is scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva.
An Iranian diplomat was reported on Sunday as saying Tehran is seeking a nuclear agreement with the U.S. that would generate economic benefits for both sides, including potential investments in energy and mining as well as aircraft purchases.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a prolonged military campaign if negotiations fail, according to U.S. officials cited by Reuters.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned they would retaliate against any U.S. military base in the event of strikes on Iranian territory.
With geopolitical tensions lending support to prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, are reportedly leaning toward restarting output hikes from April after a three-month pause, as producers prepare to meet peak summer demand.
ANZ analysts noted: "Markets were on edge over the prospect of rising supply. Bloomberg and Reuters reported that some OPEC members see scope for the alliance to resume supply increases in April.
"This comes ahead of a formal meeting of OPEC members on 1 March to discuss their supply agreement. Some nations have indicated they see room to increase output as demand picks up following the seasonal downturn during the first quarter.
"Before the reports of potential increases, only 6 of 18 traders surveyed by Bloomberg believed the group would hike in April.”
Trading activity across global financial markets is expected to remain subdued on Monday, with China, South Korea and Taiwan closed for public holidays.
