Oil Prices Drop Amid Iran Talks

New York (PNA/Xinhua) — Crude prices fell Monday on the possibility of increased crude exports from Iran as Tehran and world powers are working toward a deal that could lift Western sanction.

Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program entered a critical phase on Monday with differences still remaining as the March 31 deadline for a political framework approaches.

On Nov. 24, 2013, Iran and the P5+1 countries, namely the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, reached a first-step agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which demanded Iran suspend some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for limited sanction relief to buy time for the diplomatic effort to resolve the issue.

The negotiators has also set March 31 of 2015 as a deadline for a political framework agreement and June 30 for the final deal, so as to pave the way for the final resolution of the long disputed Iran nuclear issue.

Analysts expected that Iran could raise the crude exports by 1 million barrels a day if Western sanctions were lifted.

The supply glut continued to weigh on the crude market. U.S. crude production reached 9.422 million barrels a day last week, the highest level since 1983, according to Energy Information Administration.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery lost 19 cents to settle at 48.68 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery moved down 12 cents to close at 56.29 dollars a barrel. (PNA/Xinhua) FPV/EBP