Oil gains after Trump denies he is willing to ease Iran sanctions

By Mohi Narayan and Helen Clark NEW DELHI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump denied he would be willing to ease sanctions on Iran as Qatar pushed for peace talks, following a fall in the previous session on a recovery in crude supply from the Middle East. The Brent futures November contract, which expires on Wednesday, was up 84 cents, or 0.82%, to $103.43 a barrel by 0650 GMT. The more active December contract rose 19 cents to $87.59.

US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 25 cents, or 0.28%, to $89.63. Brent is headed for a monthly gain of around 14%, its biggest climb since July, while WTI is on track for a 4% rise after having breached $106 for the first time since May. The spread between the two benchmarks also expanded to its widest in four months as traders watched potential plans by the US to restrict diesel exports, which could create an oversupply in the US market and lead refiners there to process less crude.

Trump is considering allowing sales of red-dyed diesel, instead of an export ban, to offer some price relief to consumers ahead of the November midterm elections. "Continued uncertainty over sanctions relief and negotiations is keeping a geopolitical risk premium embedded in prices," said Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm. "Improving supplies could cap further gains, but renewed disruption or an escalation in tensions could trigger another rally," she added.

Qatar said on Tuesday it hopes that shuttle diplomacy between Tehran and Washington can lead to a breakthrough. However, Trump denied an Axios report that cited US officials as saying he was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for "concrete" steps by Tehran on its nuclear programme. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline.

Crude oil exports from Middle East producers have rebounded in September to 16.328 million barrels per day, the highest since the Iran war began on February 28. "With flows through the Saudi East-West pipeline restored, regional exports are now just 11% below pre-war levels — a remarkable recovery for a region still at war," JPMorgan research said in a note. Over the past five days, the 10-day average for total oil exports has held at 20.5 million barrels per day, or 89% of 2025 levels, JPMorgan estimated.

In the US, crude oil and gasoline inventories rose, while distillate stocks fell last week, market sources said on Tuesday, citing American Petroleum Institute data. Official inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).

Analysts polled by Reuters expect crude and product inventories to have fallen. (Reporting by Mohi Narayan in New Delhi and Helen Clark in Perth; Editing by Sonali Paul and Alexander Smith)

Source: Euronext Markets