In This Article:
* Brent above $83 before Iran sanctions deadline
* Analyst sees possibility of Brent at $100 a barrel
* High prices, trade disputes threaten demand growth
* Brent crude in different currencies: https://tmsnrt.rs/2N67zl9 (Updates prices, adds comments)
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil neared its highest since November 2014 on Monday, driven by concern about a supply crunch once U.S. sanctions against Iran come into force next month.
December Brent futures were last up 45 cents at $83.18 a barrel by 1343 GMT, having touching their highest in almost four years at $83.32. U.S. light crude futures were up 17 cents at $73.42.
"Iran has attempted to downplay the impact of looming U.S. sanctions by claiming that it has no intention of reducing oil production. However, such optimistic claims are falling on deaf ears," PVM Oil Associates strategist Stephen Brennock said.
Investors have indicated that they see prices rising, loading up on options that give the holder the right to buy Brent at $90 by the end of October. Open interest in call options at $90 has risen by nearly 12,000 lots in the past week to 38,000 lots, or 38 million barrels.
Higher oil prices and dollar strength, which has battered the currencies of several big crude importers, could hit demand growth next year, analysts said.
But for now the focus is U.S. sanctions on Iran's energy industry, which come into force on Nov. 4 and are designed to cut crude exports from the third-biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Several major buyers in India and China have signalled that they will cut purchases of Iranian oil. China's Sinopec said it had halved loadings of Iranian oil in September.
"If Chinese refiners do comply with U.S. sanctions more fully than expected, then the market balance is likely to tighten even more aggressively," Emirates NBD analyst Edward Bell wrote in a note.
Hedge funds have increased bets on a further price rise. Exchange data shows the combined net long position in Brent and U.S. light crude futures and options at its largest since late July, equivalent to about 850 million barrels.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Saudi King Salman on Saturday on ways to maintain sufficient supply.
"Even if they (Saudi Arabia) wanted to bend to President Trump's wishes, how much spare capacity does the kingdom have?" said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore.
With about 1.5 million barrels per day of Iranian oil expected to go offline on Nov. 4, prices could "rocket higher with the flashy $100 per barrel price tag indeed a reasonable-sounding target" if investors doubted the Saudis' ability to respond with enough extra output, he said.
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE Editing by Dale Hudson and David Goodman)