- Oil prices sustained their rally to set another 13-month high yesterday and held gains overnight
- The dollar has weakened further from its recent high of $91.52 on 02/04, by 90 pips to $90.61
- Brent and WTI were at their most overbought levels since 2012 and 2017, respectively, on a relative strength index basis
- Trading house, Trafigura Group, calls for a bull run even as rivals urge caution (Bloomberg)
- Vitol and Gunvor Group presented more cautious outlooks, saying prices may have returned to $60 too quickly. They also said that an influx of shuttered oil production could flood the market
- Co-head of oil, Luckock, said in an interview that he expects physical crude stocks to tighten as a return in fuel demand prompts refiners to purchase crude to boost runs to meet the increase in demand
- Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it is "inevitable" that the U.S. will return to the nuclear agreement (Argus)
- The U.S. has insisted otherwise, with President Biden saying he would not lift sanctions on Iran as recently as February 5. The yet-unscheduled next meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission likely will include presence from the U.S. for the first time since 2018, giving the first opportunity for U.S. and Iranian officials to meet
- U.S. officials say they have already started talks with allies in Europe and other JCPOA members and plan to brief Congress on Biden's approach to Iran before talks resume with Tehran
- Any new agreements would require Iran to bring its ballistic missile program to the negotiating table, which Iran has said will only be an option if the U.S. is prepared to discuss limitations to its military activity in the Middle East