Oil broadly stable as OPEC+ offsets Iran nuclear signals

Shafaq News / Oil prices were broadly stable on Wednesday as the OPEC+ producer group said it would raise its oil output target by only 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), dashing U.S. hopes of a meaningful supply boost.

Weighing on prices, meanwhile, top Iranian and U.S. officials said they were travelling to Vienna to resume indirect talks about Iran's nuclear programme, reviving the all but vanished hopes of a removal of sanctions hampering Iranian oil exports.

Brent crude futures were down 14 cents cents, or 0.1%, at $100.40 a barrel by 1337 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped by 31 cents, or 0.3%, to $94.11. Both contracts had seesawed previously.

The premium for front-month Brent futures over barrels loading in six months' time is at a three-month low, indicating concern over tight supply are abating.

Ministers for members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, agreed the small increase to the group's output target, equal to about 0.1% of global oil demand.

(Reuters)