By Trixie Yap and Anushree Mukherjee
Feb 24 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Tuesday, nearing seven-month highs, with traders assessing geopolitical risks ahead of another round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, while U.S. trade policy uncertainty added to broader concerns.
Brent crude futures rose 59 cents, or 0.8%, to $72.08 a barrel by 0424 GMT, while U.S. crude futures climbed 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $66.88 a barrel.
Brent is trading at its highest since July 31, while WTI is at its firmest since August 1.
“At this stage, geopolitics is clearly doing most of the heavy lifting for oil prices, with the current firmness largely driven by anticipation rather than actual supply loss,” said Phillip Nova senior market analyst Priyanka Sachdeva.
“The risk of possible military escalation in the Middle East is gaining traction, and thus, traders appear to hedge against worst-case scenarios.”
Iran and the U.S. will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday.
The United States wants Iran to give up its nuclear programme, but Iran has adamantly refused, and denied it is trying to develop an atomic weapon.
The State Department is pulling out non-essential government personnel and their families from the U.S. embassy in Beirut, a senior State Department official said on Monday, amid growing concerns about the risk of a military conflict with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday that it will be a “very bad day” for Iran if it does not make a deal.
“Crude oil remains at the very top of the $55–$66.50 trading range that has defined the past six months,” Tony Sycamore, an IG market analyst, said in a note to clients.
“A sustained break above the top of this range would open the way for further gains towards $70.00–$72.00. Conversely, signs of de-escalation would likely see a retracement back towards $61.00.”
On the trade policy front, Trump on Monday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, saying that he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.
“… U.S. President Donald Trump created uncertainty for global growth and fuel demand with a new round of tariff hikes,” UOB Bank analysts said in a client note.
Trump said on Saturday he would raise a temporary tariff from 10% to 15% on U.S. imports from all countries, the maximum level allowed under the law.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap in Singapore and Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Buckland and Jacqueline Wong)
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