ATHENS: Oil fell to the lowest price in three weeks amid concern Greece’s failure to reach a deal with international creditors will prompt its exit from the euro area.
Futures dropped as much as 2.2 percent in New York. The euro slumped against the dollar as the government in Athens imposed capital controls and shut banks, moving to avert the collapse of the nation’s financial system. Diplomats in Vienna are close to clinching a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program as a June 30 deadline approaches, according to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief.
Oil is heading for its first monthly decline since March as the Greek crisis deepens. Crude’s 10 percent advance this year has also encouraged U.S. producers and OPEC’s biggest members to pump at a record pace, signaling a global glut may persist.
“Greece’s impact can be felt on a global basis through the euro-dollar and general ‘risk-off’ positioning, which will then have some influence on oil,” Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland, said by e-mail. “It can also have a negative impact on European oil demand growth.”
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost as much as $1.33 to $58.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since June 9, and was at $58.43 at 9:44 a.m. London time. Total volume was about 7 percent above the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 3.1 percent this month.
