Oil hits highest since November 2014 as Iran tensions mount

By Jessica Resnick-Ault

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 2 percent on Friday with U.S. crude hitting its highest in more than three years as global supplies remained tight and the market awaited news from Washington on possible new U.S. sanctions against Iran.

The May 12 deadline for announcements on potential new U.S. sanctions on Iran bolstered the market, said Bob Yawger, director at Mizuho.

"You have the May 12 Iran and Trump headlines that support the market," he said.

U.S. light crude was $1.33 higher at $69.77 per barrel by 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT), after touching a session high of $69.97, its highest since November 2014. It was on track to gain just over 1.5 percent on the week.

Brent crude oil was up $1.23 at $74.85 a barrel. The global benchmark was set to end the week up 0.4 percent.

Investors are concerned that sanctions against Iran could cut oil supplies.

Iran's foreign minister said on Thursday that U.S. demands to change its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers were unacceptable as a deadline set by President Donald Trump for Europeans to "fix" the deal loomed.

Trump has said that unless European allies rectify the "terrible flaws" in the international accord by May 12, he will refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief for the oil-producing Islamic Republic.

European powers still want to hand Trump a plan to save the Iran nuclear deal next week. But they have also started work on protecting EU-Iranian business ties if the U.S. president makes good on a threat to withdraw.

Iran resumed its role as a major oil exporter in January 2016 when international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.

Aside from security concerns, growing U.S. crude supplies are capping price gains.

Surging production in the Permian shale basin is outpacing pipeline capacity, while local refining issues have exacerbated oversupply in the region.

The United States now produces more crude oil than top exporter Saudi Arabia.

U.S. inventory builds have been bearish for the past two weeks, limiting the markets upside. U.S. energy companies added oil rigs for a fifth week in a row as they follow through on plans to spend more on drilling this year with higher crude prices boosting their profits and pushing nationwide production to record highs.

Drillers added nine oil rigs in the week to May 4, bringing the total count to 834, the highest level since March 2015, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said.

ANZ analysts Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said Brent could reach $80 a barrel by the end of this year, attributing recent strength to rising geopolitical risks and tighter global supply.

"We expect the market to tighten even further in second half 2018," they wrote in a note to clients.

(Additional reporting by Meng Meng in BEIJING and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE and Christopher Johnson in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Mark Potter)