Iran’s Rapid Oil Return Looks Less Likely After Ship Attacks

  • Easing of sanctions on Iran now more remote, says RBC’s Croft
  • Nuclear talks were already taking longer than traders expected

   

Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg
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Iran’s oil comeback, already taking longer than many traders expected, will be further complicated by shipping attacks in the past week, including a deadly drone strike on a tanker near the Gulf of Oman that the U.S., U.K. and Israel all blamed on Tehran.

With talks held up by a change of presidency in Tehran, the incidents add friction to a process that could return 1 million barrels of oil a day to the global market within months. Even if the allies decide against a military response, Washington may be less willing to ease sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s energy exports.