Daily Times

Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, as negotiations between Iran and world powers for salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal resumed.

At 1315 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $1 (-1.32 percent) to reach $74.82 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $71.44 a barrel, down by $0.92 (-1.27 percent). The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $71.41 a barrel with a decrease of 0.28 percent, Arab Light was available at $77.48 with 1.31 percent increase, and the price of Russian Sokol reached $77.89 with an increase of 1.37 percent.

Negotiations between Iran and world powers aimed at salvaging a tattered 2015 nuclear deal resumed in Vienna after a few days’ pause, with tensions high after Tehran made demands last week that European countries strongly criticised. The United States has participated indirectly in the talks because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signalled that he wants to rejoin the deal. Washington plans to send a delegation led by Robert Malley, the special US envoy for Iran, to Vienna over the weekend.

European diplomats urged Tehran to come back with “realistic proposals” after the Iranian delegation made numerous demands last week that other parties to the accord deemed unacceptable. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week that the US hopes the next round of talks “proceeds differently”.

Investors’ eyes are also on tensions between Russia and Ukraine and weather in northern-hemisphere winter. Oil prices rebounded earlier this week from a collapse last week on rising optimism that the new Omicron variant will not cause major economic damage. After having been oversold last week on fears about the Omicron’s impact, there has been a correction this week on signs the Omicron may be mild. But investors are still not fully optimistic and are taking a wait-and-see approach until they learn about Omicron’s full impact.