After lying dormant for a few months, the risk premium in oil is back. That, at least, is what many analysts have begun declaring in the wake of fighting in the Iraqi oil-city of Kirkuk, which threatened to take several hundred-thousand bpd off-line, and the U.S. decision to decertify its nuclear deal with Iran. Prices rose this week, due to these developments as well as news that OPEC was planning to extend production cuts while inventories in the U.S. declined further . But its Kirkuk and Iran that have gotten most of the attention. The uncertainty surrounding these twin developments has observers worried. Goldman Sachs warned that half a million bpd is at risk due to fighting in Iraq, while the possibility of tough new U.S. sanctions on Iran could cause that country’s oil exports to fall, as they did in 2012-2015. RBC Capital Markets sees 500,000 bpd “in […]