Oil drops to $ 55 as Iran nuclear talks intensify

Wednesday, 1 April 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A general view shows oil treatment facilities at Vankorskoye oil field owned by Rosneft company north of the Russian Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk LONDON (Reuters): Brent crude oil dropped towards $55 a barrel on Tuesday as Iran and six world powers entered a final day of talks over a nuclear deal that could see the energy-rich country increase oil exports to world markets. With a self-imposed deadline set for the end of the day, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ramped up the pace of negotiations with Iran in Switzerland over an outline deal on Tehran’s nuclear program. Disagreements on enrichment research and the pace of lifting sanctions remained as hurdles that could scupper a deal to end a 12-year standoff between Iran and the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow he believed the talks had a good chance of success. “The chances are high. They are probably not 100% but you can never be 100% certain of anything,” Lavrov said. Brent was 89 cents lower at $55.40 a barrel by 0940 GMT. U.S. crude was down 89 cents at $47.79 a barrel. Oil prices extended two days of declines as investors said a deal in Lausanne could lead to an increase in Iranian crude supply to a market already weighed down by oversupply due to rising U.S. shale production.