Oil prices surged more than 3% on Thursday, marking their strongest daily gain in weeks, as optimism over a potential U.S.-European Union trade deal and fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran stoked concerns about future supply constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both benchmarks advanced around 5% for the week<\/strong>, their first weekly gain in three weeks<\/strong>. Thursday marked the final settlement session ahead of the Easter holidays, with trading volumes relatively light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market sentiment was buoyed by remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump<\/strong> and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/strong>, who met in Washington and expressed optimism about resolving transatlantic trade tensions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have very little problem making a deal with Europe or anybody else, because we have something that everybody wants,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Energy analysts noted that a trade breakthrough could reduce the negative demand impact of U.S. tariffs<\/strong>, helping to stabilize oil consumption globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReaching a deal with the EU could potentially limit oil demand destruction from Trump\u2019s tariffs,\u201d said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Supply-side concerns also escalated after the U.S. issued new sanctions targeting Iran\u2019s oil exports<\/strong>, specifically including measures against Chinese “teapot” refineries\u2014small, independent refiners that often import discounted Iranian crude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are far-ranging sanctions, focusing on the Chinese teapot refineries,\u201d said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital. \u201cIt\u2019s a potential supply loss to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Treasury also blacklisted multiple companies and vessels<\/strong> involved in facilitating Iran\u2019s shadow oil trade with China<\/strong>, part of a broader strategy to restrict Tehran\u2019s access to oil revenue amid stalled nuclear negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe U.S. continues to aggressively sanction Iran and impose sanctions against buyers of Iranian oil,\u201d noted analysts at Gelber and Associates. \u201cOPEC+ has also provided reassurance to the market, stating that they remain in control with flexibility to cut production if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n On the supply management front, OPEC said on Wednesday<\/strong> it had received updated output cut plans from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and others<\/strong>, aiming to offset recent overproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, despite the bullish catalysts, outlook risks remain elevated<\/strong>. This week, OPEC<\/strong>, the International Energy Agency (IEA)<\/strong>, and several major investment banks<\/strong>, including Goldman Sachs<\/strong> and JPMorgan<\/strong>, revised down their oil price and demand growth forecasts<\/strong>. The moves came amid concerns that escalating tariff conflicts<\/strong> are disrupting global trade flows and weakening consumption patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While near-term prices have rebounded on sanction-induced supply fears<\/strong> and progress in trade diplomacy<\/strong>, markets remain highly sensitive to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the second quarter progresses, traders will likely continue to weigh geopolitical developments<\/strong> against evolving demand-side risks<\/strong>, particularly in China and other emerging markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil prices surged more than 3% on Thursday, marking their strongest daily gain in weeks, as optimism over a potential U.S.-European Union trade deal and fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran stoked concerns about future supply constraints. Brent crude futures settled $2.11 higher, or 3.2%, at $67.96 a barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed $2.21 higher, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-forex-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113808,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113807\/revisions\/113808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nTrade Progress and Sanctions Support Bullish Momentum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nU.S. Sanctions Raise Supply Risks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nOPEC and Global Demand Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMarket Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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