Mumbai, Aug. 12 -- IEA stated in a latest monthly update that benchmark crude prices surged to a two-month high in July as the recovery in oil supplies from the Gulf reversed course following the breakdown of the mid-June Iran-US ceasefire agreement. Expectations of diplomatic progress had triggered steep price declines in June and early July, but a return to hostilities led prices to spike as high as $105 per barrel on 23 July. At the time of writing, with uncertainty again pervasive, North Sea Dated was trading around $92/bbl. Product cracks and refining margins, meanwhile, have continued to rise in August, setting new records in Europe.
After an increase of 3.7 mb/d in June, Gulf oil production rose by a further 2.5 mb/d in July to 23.9...