Oil prices settle $1 higher after US issues new Iran-related sanctions

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Thursday after the United States issued new Iran-related sanctions and renewed tensions in the Middle East countered strength in the dollar.

Brent crude futures settled up $1.22, or 1.72%, at $72 a barrel.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) contract for April expired on Thursday, and settled up $1.10 or 1.64% at $68.26.

The more actively traded WTI May contract settled up $1.16, or 1.73% at $68.07.

The U.S. on Thursday issued Iran-related sanctions, targeting entities including for the first time a Chinese "teapot", or independent refinery, and vessels that supplied crude oil to such processing plants.

China is the largest importer of Iranian oil. "Teapot" refiners are private Chinese refineries that are the primary purchasers of Iranian oil.

Iran produces more than 3 million barrels per day of crude oil.  

"We were looking for some kind of catalyst to move and that was the ticket that pushed us back towards the high," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

Elsewhere, OPEC+ issued a new schedule for seven member nations including Russia, Kazakhstan and Iraq to make further oil output cuts to compensate for pumping above agreed levels.

The plan will represent monthly cuts of between 189,000 barrels per day and 435,000 bpd, according to a table on OPEC's web site. The scheduled cuts last until June 2026.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories rose 1.7 million barrels, exceeding expectations for an increase of 512,000 barrels in an earlier Reuters poll. [EIA/S] 

'CHOPPY UPWARD DRIFT'

Putting a lid on crude prices was the dollar, which inched up after the Federal Reserve indicated on Wednesday it was in no rush to cut interest rates further this year due to uncertainties around U.S. tariffs. 

The U.S. dollar was up 0.5%, making crude more expensive for foreign buyers.

The U.S. central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, a move widely anticipated by the market, but maintained its projection of two 25-basis-point rate cuts by the end of this year.

Interest rate cuts typically boost economic activity and energy demand.

Some analysts, however, are expecting an uneven oil price uptrend in the near term.

"I am expecting a choppy upward drift in the oil markets right now," said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA, adding that stimulus measures by China and renewed hostilities between Israel and Hamas were bullish price drivers. 

Global risk premiums rose after Israel launched a new ground operation on Wednesday in Gaza after breaking a ceasefire of nearly two months. 

"Amid the prevailing uncertainty, the risk of sanctions is once again coming into focus, as the Trump administration adopts a tougher stance on Venezuela, Iran, and Russia," J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note on Thursday.  

The U.S. kept up airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for the group's attacks on ships in the Red Sea. U.S. President Donald Trump has also vowed to hold Iran responsible for future Houthi attacks. 

Trump's push to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China has raised recession fears, weighing on oil prices.

"Tariff concerns seem to be holding oil back a bit," Flynn added.  

J.P. Morgan said it expects Brent prices to recover into the mid-to-high $70s over the next couple of months, before dipping below $70 and ending the year in the mid-$60s, averaging around $73.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Colleen Howe, Trixie Yap and Arunima Kumar. Editing by Paul Simao and Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan)