Oil prices rise on Wednesday

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump denied reports that he was willing to ease sanctions on Iran, while Qatar pushed for peace talks between Tehran and Washington.

Brent November futures rose 84 cents, or 0.82 per cent, to $103.43 a barrel by 0650 GMT, while the more active December contract gained 19 cents to $87.59. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 25 cents, or 0.28 per cent, to $89.63.

Brent is on track for a monthly gain of around 14 per cent, its biggest increase since July, while WTI is expected to rise about 4 per cent.

Qatar said it hoped shuttle diplomacy between Tehran and Washington could lead to a breakthrough. Trump, however, denied an Axios report that he was willing to provide Iran with sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for concrete steps on its nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, Middle East oil supplies have recovered. Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline.

Middle East crude exports rose to 16.328 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began on February 28, according to JPMorgan research.

Attribution: Reuters