0305 GMT: Crude oil futures were largely stable during mid-morning trade in Asia Monday amid lack of fresh cues, while ongoing geopolitical risks helped to keep prices supported.
At 11:05 am Singapore time (0305 GMT), front-month ICE Brent September futures slipped 2 cents/b (0.03%) from Friday's settle at $64.21/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude futures contract was 17 cents/b (0.3%) higher at $57.58/b.
"Prices have stabilized in the past week, with Brent hovering around $62/b-$65/b and WTI around $56/b-$59/b. We expect prices to remain around this range in the short-term, although there may be upside risks if US-Iran tensions further deteriorate," OCBC Bank analysts said in a note Monday.
Iran said Sunday it was hours away from exceeding the uranium enrichment level allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US had quit last year, in a bid to pressure European parties to meet their end of the deal on oil sales and banking relations.
"From today, we officially pass the limit of 3.67% for uranium enrichment," government spokesman Ali Rabie said in a press conference in Tehran. "Within a few hours, the process of enrichment more than 3.67% [purity] starts," Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of Iran's atomic energy organization, said at the press conference. He did not specify the new level.
After giving Europe 60 days to come up with a solution, and since Iran's demands for restoring its oil sales have not been fulfilled, Iran is reducing its compliance with the nuclear deal for a second time, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, said.
Last week, Iran broke the terms of the nuclear deal for the first time since it was signed in 2015, by breaching the limits on uranium stockpiles. In response, US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Iran to "better be careful".
Trump, who pulled the US out of the nuclear agreement, spoke to reporters at an airport in New Jersey before returning to Washington after a weekend at one of his clubs, according to media reports.
"That said, the price increase was restrained by the dampened Fed rate cut expectations and weak European economic data," analysts from UOB Bank said in a note Monday.
"Asia markets are expected to find a soft start to the week after seeing Wall Street pullback on Friday from lowered expectations of a Fed cut. It will be a week watching the balance between economic data and central bank perceptions for markets," IG's market strategist Pan Jingyi said.
The US Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet July 30-31 to decide on a cut in interest rates.
As of 0305 GMT, the US Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 96.835.
