- US sanctions network involved in illicit Iranian oil exports
- OPEC+ members meet on Sunday to set policy
- US crude inventories likely fell last week - poll
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped but held near a one-month high ahead of a weekend meeting of OPEC+ producers on Sunday and as new U.S. sanctions on a network of shipping companies and vessels involved in Iranian oil exports raised supply concerns.
Brent crude fell 33 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.81 a barrel by 0924 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 33 cents, or 0.5%, to $65.26 a barrel.
The benchmarks settled up more than 1% in the previous session after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on a network of shipping companies and vessels led by an Iraqi-Kittitian businessman for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil.
"Crude has gained in early September after August's slump, supported by the threat of further sanctions, ongoing Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, and broader supply uncertainties," MUFG analyst Soojin Kim said.
"While the geopolitical backdrop is providing support, weaker refinery runs in Russia could still increase crude availability for export, leaving the market finely balanced," she added.
The market was also waiting for the results of a meeting of eight members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies on September 7 to decide on whether to increase their production quotas for October.
The group had already agreed to raise output targets by about 2.2 million barrels per day from April to September, in addition to a 300,000 bpd quota increase for the UAE.
Actual increases from the group, however, have fallen short of those pledges as some members compensated for past over-production and others struggled to raise output due to capacity constraints.
Also supporting prices, U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, along with distillate and gasoline inventories, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
Three analysts polled by Reuters ahead of weekly inventory data estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 3.4 million barrels in the week to August 29.
But soft economic data kept prices capped. U.S. manufacturing contracted for a sixth month as President Donald Trump's tariffs hit business confidence and economic activity, weighing on the demand outlook for oil.
Additional reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Editing by Bernadette Baum
Source: Reuters