Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters – After two consecutive sessions of losses, oil prices climbed after Wednesday’s gains. This was despite concerns over a possible increase in Iran supplies.

Futures prices rose by 0.3% or 23 cents to $91.01/barrel at 0122 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude, however, was still $89.47/barrel, an increase of 11 cents (or 0.1%).

Tina Teng from CMC Markets, an analyst said that “Undersupply” is what has driven up oil prices.

Market sources on Tuesday cited American Petroleum Institute data. They reported that U.S. crude and gasoline stocks dropped last week. API reported that crude oil inventories declined by 2 million barrels. This is in contrast to analyst expectations for a 400,000-barrel rise.

At 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT), more data will be available from the U.S. EIA.

Prices were still affected by worries about an Iran nuclear deal, which could allow for more oil access to global markets.

Brent and WTI fell about 2% Tuesday as Washington resumed indirect negotiations with Iran in an effort to revive a nuke deal. Although such a deal would likely lift U.S. oil sanctions and increase supplies, there are still important issues to resolve.

Teng stated that the price of oil is expected to drop in the coming week due to the ongoing negotiations. He also said there had been profit taking by investors after the prices soared past 7 years.

A rise in oil prices to near $100 per barrel may also result in more US production. Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. crude production will increase 770,000 barrels per hour to 11.97million bpd by 2022.

Concerns about Ukraine were suspended as the French President Emmanuel Macron stated that he believes steps can be taken after a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also called for calm from all parties.