Oil rises as Iran export recovery remains in doubt

Oil advanced a third day as scepticism among US lawmakers over a nuclear deal with Iran undermined prospects that the OPEC producer will bolster crude exports.

Futures rose as much as 2.8 percent in New York. President Barack Obama is sending three cabinet members to brief lawmakers as a Senate committee prepares to take up a bill that will give Congress 60 days to review any final agreement with Iran.

Drillers in the US cut the number of active rigs seeking oil to the fewest since 2010, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

Oil capped its longest run of weekly gains since February 2014 on Friday amid speculation a rebound in Iranian shipments isn’t imminent.

The government in Tehran reached a preliminary pact with world powers on April 2 that would offer nuclear restrictions in return for a lifting of economic sanctions, with a final accord planned for June 30.

Prices are still down about 1.5 percent this year as near-record US output boosted stockpiles to the highest level in more than three decades.

“Crude oil is up because of doubts that a final agreement about the Iranian nuclear program will be reached,” Bill O’Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis, which oversees $3.4 billion, said. “We’re seeing a lot of jockeying for position right now, with the Iranians saying one thing and other parties saying something else.”

West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose 88 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $52.52 a barrel at 9:38 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed 85 cents to $51.64 on Friday, capping a fourth weekly increase.

Brent for May settlement climbed 81 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $58.68 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was down 13 percent from the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude traded at a $6.17 premium to WTI.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will hold a closed-door meeting Monday with members of the House of Representatives, according to Lew’s published schedule.

Iran could boost crude exports by 1 million barrels a day within a few months of sanctions being lifted, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said March 16.

Its shipments have fallen by half to about 1 million barrels a day after sanctions were imposed in mid-2012. The Persian Gulf nation tied Kuwait last month as the third-largest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a Bloomberg survey showed.