Oil prices remain at 4-year highs amid the re-introduction of US sanctions against Iran.  

Brent crude price clocked up $85.08 a barrel, up 0.12% after it touched $85.45 for the first time since November 2014. WTI crude came in at $75.6 a barrel, which is 0.4% higher than the previous close. The volume of net long positions under Brent contracts today is close to 500 million barrels.  According to experts, this indicates that hedge funds are betting on further appreciation of crude amid doubts related to the ability of Saudi Arabia and other oil producers to compensate for the lack of Iranian oil. Analysts do not exclude a short-term rebound in prices if investors wish to take profits.

In May, US President Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and the subsequent restoration of restrictive measures against Tehran. The White House demanded that importers stop buying oil from Iran from November 2018. As a result, sea exports of Iranian oil fell to 1.9 million barrels a day in September to mark the lowest level since 2016.