Oil markets focus on Iran deal

Oil followed a flat course in Asian markets after the surprise drop in US crude oil inventories.

Futures are trading around $90 a barrel in the New York market after gaining 0.3 percent in the previous session.

In the US, crude oil inventories fell by 4.8 million barrels last week, according to official data released by the government. The expectation of economists participating in the Bloomberg survey was that there would be an increase in stocks.

Oil markets, on the other hand, focused on whether there would be any developments in the nuclear deal with Iran. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Wednesday that the agreement to be reached will address the concerns of all parties.

Vivek Dhar, Director of Commodities Research at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said: “Inventories are very low in the markets. There is very little excess capacity at the moment and this is one of the most important things to follow in the market.”

West Texas Oil for March delivery remained flat in the New York market, climbing to $89.62 a barrel.

Brent oil for April delivery rose 0.1 percent to $91.46 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Europe market.