Investing.com - Crude prices edged higher on Monday, as looming U.S. sanctions on Iran are widely expected to lead to a tighter market.
Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., rose 69 cents, or 0.9%, to $78.78 a barrel by 9:35AM ET.
New York-traded WTI crude futures added 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $69.27 a barrel.
The sanctions, which from November will include Tehran's oil exports, are being reinstated after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year.
Iran is the third-biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), supplying around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate to markets this year, equivalent to around 2.5% of global consumption.
Crude exports from the Islamic republic are down by almost a third since April, sliding below 2 million bpd in August, and continuing to deteriorate in the first half of September.
Washington wants to cut Iran's oil exports to zero, and is encouraging producers such as Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members and Russia to pump more to meet the shortfall.
Under pressure from Trump to lower oil prices, OPEC and allies agreed in June to boost production, having participated in a supply-cutting deal in place since 2017.
While OPEC production has increased since then, Saudi Arabia has added less crude than it initially indicated.
Elsewhere, markets will also stay attuned to the next potential steps in the tit-for-tat trade dispute between the U.S. and China following a report that the Trump administration was prepared to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods as soon as this week.
Economists are worried that rising trade barriers between the world's major economies will drag on global growth and, by extension, erode energy demand.
In other energy trading, gasoline futures jumped 1.5% to $2.003 a gallon, while heating oil tacked on 0.9% to $2.229 a gallon.