Crude Oil Prices Settle Above $70 on Fears of Global Supply Shortage

Investing.com – WTI crude oil prices settled above $70 a barrel Monday as investor concerns over global crude supply supported sentiment.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange for September delivery rose 2.1% to settle at $70.13 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, rose 1.18% to trade at $75.64 a barrel.

Concerns about the prospect of an oil supply shortage returned Monday, as investors continued to weigh supply disruptions in Saudi Arabia and declining output from and Venezuela, Iran and Libya.

Saudi Arabia announced it would suspend shipments of oil through the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait, after Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked a pair of oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Combined flows from Iran, Libya and Venezuela fell to their lowest since January, JBC Energy said.

The fall in Iran crude flows come as U.S. sanctions, which come into effect in early November, are expected to cripple the Islamic Republic’s energy industry, wiping a significant amount of crude supply from the market.

Barclays estimated U.S. sanctions against the Iran would trim Iranian exports by about 700,000 barrels a day.

A drop in the dollar, pressured by a stronger euro, also lent support to oil prices.

The , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.40% to 94.09.

Dollar-denominated commodities such as oil are sensitive to moves in the dollar – A fall in the dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of foreign currency raising demand.

The strong start to the week for oil prices come despite data showing traders continued to shed their bullish bets on oil for the third-straight week.

data showed money managers reduced their net long positions in to 610,500 lots from 631,300 lots for the week ended July 27.

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