Oil holds near 3.5 year high on Iran tensions

• WTI hovers around $70 on fears US may end Iran deal.

Oil prices hold near their highest level since November 2014 on fears US President Trump will withdraw from Iran deal.

AS of writing, WTI is trading at $70/barrel and brent is changing hands at $75.50/barrel. The US oil prices rose above $70.00 on Monday for the first time since late 2014, indicating the markets have priced in the possibility of Trump withdrawing from nuclear deal with Iran.

Renewed sanctions on Iran - the world’s fifth-largest producer of crude oil in 2017, will likely tip the scales in favor of oil bulls (led to further supply tightening). 

Trump is expected to announce the decision on the nuclear deal at 1800 GMT today.

• Read: WTI Oil Forecast: $75.00 ahead?

WTI Technical Outlook

Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals, see scope for a re-test of resistance at $70.88 per barrel, a break above which could lead to a gain into the range of $71.53-$72.29.