SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday as a supply disruption in Canada tightened the market and after U.S. officials told importers to stop buying Iranian crude from November.
Uncertainty over Libyan exports also supported crude, traders said.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 had climbed 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last close to $76.92 per barrel by 0650 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $70.88, up 35 cents, or 0.5 percent.
The United States demanded all countries stop imports of Iranian oil from November, a State Department official said on Tuesday.
Oil markets did not react more strongly to Washington’s pressure as the move was expected.
In addition, top exporter Saudi Arabia plans to raise output to make up for lost supplies.
“It is very unlikely the U.S. will succeed in ending Iranian oil sales on this timetable, but we are increasing our estimate of oil likely to come off the market by November to about 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) — another bullish factor for prices,” said risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
During the last round of sanctions, which ended in 2016, several Asian countries received waivers from Washington allowing them to continue to import from Iran.
This time, Washington already hinted when announcing renewed sanctions in May that it was unwilling to grant waivers.
And while Tokyo and Seoul said on Wednesday they were still hoping to receive waivers from Washington, Japanese and South Korean buyers have already started dialing back purchases.
TIGHT MARKET
Beyond looming sanctions, other threats to supply are keeping markets on edge.
In Libya, a
