Brent touches $80 as Iran sanctions deadline nears

Oil prices rose to $80 a barrel on Monday morning amidst fears of market tightening ahead of US sanctions on Iran’s crude exports starting Nov.4.

The benchmark Brent was last trading up 22 cents at $80 a barrel, while WTI crude gained 26 cents at $69.38 a barrel.

International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director, Fatih Birol, recently said that other producers may struggle to fully make up for the expected fall in Iranian supply, and prices could rise further coupled with strong demand.

In addition, major oil consumers were stockpiling in anticipation of more disruptions, Reuters reported, citing traders.

“In China, higher seasonal demand and suspected stockpiling are occurring, while similarly the US and the OECD continue building stockpiles ahead of potential supply disruptions this winter,”  Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at Oanda told the newswire.