Oil Prices Grow Amid US’s Iran Nuclear Agreement Pullout

Oil prices reached a three-and-a-half-year high on May 17, fueling concerns of a narrowing supply that followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement last week. In comparing the latest CNBC report with a Reuters report in March, oil prices rose about $10 a barrel in less than two months to $80, with another increase predicted in the foreseeable future.

“We could see oil prices in July when demand is high … several dollars higher than it is,” Dan Yergin, energy analyst and IHS Markit vice chairman, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on May 16.

Since Trump’s announcement, many economists are anticipating a decline in Iranian oil exports.

According to a separate CNBC report, global demands for crude oil and refined products grew over the past few months, while the larger oil-producing countries, such as Iran, Venezuela and Angola, slowed production. 

Price increases are also impacting countries other than the U.S., including France, where CNBC stated a multibillion-dollar gas project is in jeopardy if a waiver isn’t secured from U.S. sanctions. As the head of Marco & Commodity Research at Swiss bank Julius Baer, Norbert Rücker told CNBC that there’s a lot of “geopolitical noise.”

“Supply concerns are top of mind after the United States left the Iran nuclear deal,” Rücker said in the report.

-Andrew Michaels, editorial associate