Imminent agreement chances in the Iran nuclear negotiations dwindle

Oil prices are rising significantly this morning. Brent has gained by a good 1% to reach $58 per barrel, while WTI is up 1.5% to $52.5 per barrel. 

Moreover, hopes are clearly dwindling of any agreement being reached this week in the nuclear negotiations with Iran. US President Obama put the chances of this happening at less than 50% yesterday. 

Although talks are 95% complete according to Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov, it is the remaining 5% which is proving difficult. This makes any rapid increase in oil shipments from Iran less likely. By contrast, the inventory data released by the US Department of Energy offered little argument in favour of rising oil prices.

"Prices are being boosted by a strong recovery of the Chinese equity markets after the authorities there banned major shareholders who own a stake of 5% or more in one company from selling their stocks for six months", says Commerzbank.