[Oil Prices] Rebound After Three Days; Iran Says It Won’t Give Up a Single Grain of Nuclear Material

[Financial News]  

International oil prices turned higher on the 11th (local time), for the first time in three days.
Oil prices rebounded as Iran’s top security official took a hard line, saying not a single grain of enriched nuclear material could be handed over.
Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, for delivery in January next year settled at $92.76 a barrel, up 1.39% from the previous session. More than 80% of crude oil prices traded worldwide are determined with reference to Brent prices.
December West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for U.S. oil prices, closed up 0.57% at $86.53 a barrel.
At a Veterans Day event that day, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that the United States had already won the war with Iran and that when it ends is up to the United States. Oil prices nevertheless rebounded as Iran signaled that negotiations would not be easy.
Mohsen Rezaee, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said that day, “Iran will not allow a single grain of enriched nuclear material to disappear from this country.”
That means the “Iran without nuclear weapons” that the Trump administration has set as a condition for ending the Iran war is unacceptable.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said, “Oil prices rose as hopes for de-escalation faded.”
Meanwhile, reports continued to emerge of tankers coming under attack in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on the 11th that two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were struck by mines and caught fire.
According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), attacks have shown no sign of letting up since 37 commercial vessels were hit in the Strait of Hormuz last month.
Despite the rebound that day, Brent crude has plunged 21% and WTI 17% so far this month.

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