Oil Slides 2% As Iran Talks Offset Ukraine Crisis

• Oil prices fell about 2.0% on Thursday as talks to resurrect a nuclear deal with Iran entered their final stages and could unlock more crude supplies, but losses were limited by tension between top energy exporter Russia and the West over Ukraine. 
• Brent futures fell $1.84, or 1.9%, to settle at $92.97 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.90, or 2.0%, to settle at $91.76. Both benchmarks rose to their highest levels since September 2014 earlier in the week and both continue to face extreme backwardation in coming months. Backwardation is a market structure where prompt contracts are more expensive than those for later dates, indicating supply tightness. 
• Craig Erlam, market analyst at OANDA has said that the price could already be in triple-figure territory if not for the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, noting that a deal could mean around 1.3Mn barrels per day (bpd) of crude quickly re-entering the market.

(Source: Reuters)