Oil under pressure as Iran exports surge

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price remains under pressure in Asia on reports that Iran is boosting its crude tanker exports.

At the time of writing, WTI US oil was down 0.50% around $53.75/barrel. Prices clocked a high of $54.29 on Friday before the bearish oil rig count numbers took the wind out of the oil bulls.

The Baker Hughes data released on Friday showed the rig count increased by four in the week ended Jan. 6.

Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters Oil Flows data showed Ira’s oil inventory at sea dropped from 29.6 million barrels per day in October to 16.4 million barrels. The nation has exported 13 million barrels of oil via tankers since the OPEC deal.

The bearish news out of Iran and US overshadowed report from Kuwait news agency which quoted OPEC Secretary-General saying Saudi Arabia is taking the lead cut.