Oil prices climbed this week as U.S. inventories tightened and the risk of Iran reaching a new deal and bringing extra crude online decreased. Friday, July 30th, 2021 Crude prices drew hefty support this week from U.S. inventory dynamics, with commercial stocks falling to their lowest since January 2020 and indications that the tightening is set to continue. Concurrently, the markets have seemingly got accustomed to the idea that there will not be any Iranian cliff-hanger as President-elect Raisi is to be sworn into office next week, mitigating erstwhile concerns that Tehran might flood the market with incremental barrels. COVID headwinds persist, however, as several European countries see rising Delta variant cases. EU Fails to Replenish Gas Storage. European countries are struggling to replenish their gas reserves amid exorbitantly high LNG prices and limited availability of pipeline supplies, with total EU gas reserves standing at a mere 616 TWh, […]