ALBAWABA – Oil prices dipped slightly Tuesday on anticipations of Iraqi oil exports resuming through the Ceyhan oil terminal, news agencies reported.
Resuming oil exports from Iraq would ease supply tightness caused by persistent cuts by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+).
Brent crude was down $0.11 at $84.35 a barrel by 0651 GMT, while the more active West Texas Intermediate (WTI) October contract slipped $0.10 to $80.02 a barrel
Markets held for the resumption of Iraqi oil exports, which slightly undermined supply tightness, according to Reuters.
However, the front-month WTI contract that expires in September was up $0.17, trading at $80.89 a barrel, Reuters reported.
Observed exports from Iran surged to 2.2 million barrels a day this month, according to Bloomberg, amid talks between Turkey and Iraq to restart the major oil pipeline.
Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani arrived in Ankara to discuss several issues, including oil exports through the Ceyhan oil terminal, an unnamed source in the minister's office told Reuters on Monday.
Turkey halted Iraq's 450,000 barrels per day of exports through the northern Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce.
A rally in oil prices, which started in late June, has faltered over the last couple of weeks, with futures back to where they were at the start of the year, Bloomberg reported.
Efforts by OPEC+ linchpins Saudi Arabia and Russia to curb production and supply have tightened the market. However, with demand outlook in China clouded and signs that United States interest rates will remain higher for longer to rein in inflation, oil prices have somewhat stabilized.
