AFP, Singapore :Oil prices recovered Thursday after the Iran nuclear talks were extended until July 7, giving oversupplied markets a breather despite uncertainty over the Greek financial crisis, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery was up 14 cents at $57.10 in mid-afternoon Asian trade while Brent was 25 cents higher at $62.26.”With the deadline now extended into next week on finding a comprehensive agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme, the markets will monitor closely the outcome of the negotiations as Iran sits on the fourth-largest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves in the world,” said Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at Ernst and Young.Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures, said “we continue to focus on the timing that Iranian crude would flow into the market for this situation”.Oil futures prices fell Wednesday after the Department of Energy reported an unexpected increase in US stockpiles last week, further dampening sentiment.”With prices falling yesterday, we are seeing that the high volatilities that we were aiming for could be over. We suggest taking profit on this position,” said analyst Ang.Talks between Iran and major powers towards a nuclear deal will intensify Thursday with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano due in Tehran to seek a way around one of the thorniest issues: a stalled probe into Iran’s suspected nuclear bomb development programme.
