Oil prices keep going up. Brent oil has just exceeded $83/b. Obviously, Donal Trump's attempts to urge the OPEC to increase their oil production have filed so far. For those of you who don't know, not so long ago Donald Trump threatened the OPEC in general and Middle-Eastern oil producers in particular with consequences if they refuse to start increasing their oil production to dump international oil prices as soon as possible. However, those threats seem to have had no impact on the OPEC and the prices are still going up.
On the first day of October, oil prices are still rallying. They have already break above the $83/b threshold for Brent oil. International experts don't deny a move all the way up to $100 by the end of the year.
At the same time, experts say that Trump himself is partially responsible for pushing the prices higher. The other day, Washington announced a new round of sanctions against Iran, including the export of Iranian oil. This has been clearly affecting the oil market ever since. The thing is that Iran is a major player in the international market of crude oil, which is why any disruption of oil export from this Middle-Easter state is destined to affect the entire market. So, the USA wants the OPEC to make up for the Iranian oil export but this is something that OPEC is either incapable or reluctant to do right now.
So, earlier today, Brent oil appreciated from $82/b up to $83.17/b. WTI oil cost $73,51/b earlier today.
It's interesting to note that neither the EU, nor Russia and China are planning to join the anti-Iranian sanctions. They assume that Iran has been complying with the nuclear deal which is why there are no reasons to punish Iran with another round of sanctions. For those of you who don't know, the latest sanctions seem to be dictated by the allegations that Iran has been violating the nuclear deal. So, they are currently working on some workarounds to resume the relations with Iran despite the sanctions introduced by the USA.
