U.S. Pressing Allies To End All Imports Of Iranian Oil By Nov. 4

Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran's petroleum minister, center, speaks to reporters ahead of the 174th Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, June 22, 2018. OPEC and its allies reached a preliminary agreement in the face of strong opposition from Iran to boost production by a theoretical 1 million barrels a day - the actual increase will be smaller as several countries are unable to raise output. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Chronicle/Bloomberg: U.S. pressing allies to end Iran oil imports by Nov. 4, official says

The U.S. is pressing allies to end all imports of Iranian oil by a Nov. 4 deadline and doesn't want to offer any extensions or waivers as it follows through on President Donald Trump's decision to quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a State Department official said.

Oil prices surged more than 2.5 percent in New York as traders digested the prospect of a much larger than expected loss of Iranian supply this winter. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate surged to $70 a barrel, while Brent, the European crude benchmark, climbed to $76 a barrel.

In a briefing Tuesday, the State Department official said that while the administration wouldn't rule out waivers or extensions to the November deadline -- which Trump announced when he withdrew from the Iran deal in May -- it isn't discussing them either. Because U.S. allies from Asia to Europe have closer commercial ties to Iran than does America, many analysts expected some flexibility from Washington through waivers.

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