Crude oil slumps on Iran nuclear deal with West

Investing.com - Oil prices fell on Monday in reaction to weekend reports that Iran agreed on a multilateral plan that would curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions in a deal that could end sanctions on the Middle East country and allow it to resume exports and add to global supply.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in March traded at USD91.95 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, down 1.08%. New York-traded oil futures hit a session low of USD91.86 a barrel and a high of USD93.10 a barrel.

Talks among the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France and Iran ended in agreement on a six-month deal that will limit advancements in Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing economic sanctions against Tehran starting Jan. 20.

In November, Iran pledged to eliminate its stocks of 20% enriched uranium within six months and limit the enrichment of uranium to 5%.

Trade sanctions slapped on Iran due to its alleged nuclear ambitions have taken out more than 1 million barrels of oil per day from the global market over the past two years.
Soft U.S. jobs numbers released Friday also pressured prices lower.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday reported that the U.S. economy added 74,000 jobs in December, well below expectations for a 196,000 increase and below an upwardly revised 241,000 rise the previous month.

The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in December due to a weak participation rate, down from 7.0% in November. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged last month.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for March delivery were down 0.61% and trading at USD105.96 a barrel, while the spread between the Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at USD14.01 a barrel.