On Tuesday, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery was up six cents to USD 115.86, while New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November, gained 11 cents to hit USD 91.96 a barrel.
"We have concerns about the economy, in particular Europe exerting downward pressure, but supporting oil are the tighter sanctions on Iran from the EU," said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore on Tuesday.
On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed on a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program in spite of a UN warning against the humanitarian ramifications of the previous bans.
Iranian officials have repeatedly described the sanctions against the Islamic Republic as futile and ineffective.
Despite illegal sanctions on Iran, the country has managed to easily find new substitutes for EU customers of Iranian oil and gas.
The bloc’s new move comes in defiance of the UN chief’s recent remarks about the humanitarian ramifications of the previously-imposed embargoes. Ban Ki-moon warned on October 5 that the West’s sanctions have mainly targeted the livelihood of the ordinary Iranian population.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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