The Brent oil price rose significantly yesterday and regained last Thursday's interim high of just over $68 per barrel in the morning, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.

Brent crude surges on sanctions and inventory drop

"The price increase was triggered by signs of easing in the tariff conflict and further US sanctions against Iran. After customers in China (see Commodities Update from 17 April), a shipping network from Iran, which is held responsible for transporting Iranian oil, was also placed on the US sanctions list yesterday."

"An unexpectedly sharp fall in US crude oil inventories reported by the API in the evening also drove up prices. We no longer see any significant upward potential for oil prices due to the looming oversupply."