Investing.com – Oil prices rose on Wednesday on reports that U.S. officials urged all countries to stop Iranian crude imports from November.
Crude Oil WTI Futures for August delivery were trading at $70.82 a barrel at 11:50PM ET (03:50 GMT), up 0.40%. Brent Oil Futures for September delivery, traded in London, were also up 0.29% at $76.36 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Crude Oil WTI Futures for September delivery were up 3.23% at 483.10 yuan per barrel.
The U.S. has told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil starting from November, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.
"Oil prices were flying higher overnight after catching an updraft from the U.S. administration calling for allies to cut Iran imports to zero tolerance," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA.
He also warned "Libya will continue to be a significant point of concern in the oil supply chain".
Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar announced on Monday that his army have handed control of oil installations to a separate National Oil Corporation (NOC) based in the East of the country.
The official state-owned oil company based in the capital Tripoli, also called NOC, will not be allowed to handle that oil anymore, he said.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a 9.2 million barrel reduction in U.S. crude inventories in the week to June 22 to 421.4 million barrels.
The Organisation of Oil Exporting countries (OPEC)’s decide to raise output last week following a key meeting in Vienna. While the decision was widely anticipated, the supply boost was less than some investors had anticipated.