Brent crude rose 43 cents, or 0.6%, to $ 73.29 a barrel at 1:34 a.m. GMT, after rising 0.2% on Monday. US oil gained 41 cents, or 0.6%, to $ 71.29 a barrel, after losing 3 cents in the previous session.

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran, as well as other parties to the 2015 agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, resumed in Vienna on Saturday and were called “intense” by the Union European.

A US return to the deal would pave the way for the lifting of sanctions against Iran that would allow the OPEC member to resume crude exports.

It is “increasingly unlikely that we will see the United States join the Iran nuclear deal before the Iranian presidential elections later this week,” ING Economics said in a note.

Other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as major producers, including Russia – a group known as OPEC + – have suspended production to support prices amid the pandemic .

“Additional OPEC + supply will be needed in the second half of this year as demand is expected to continue to pick up,” said ING.

To meet growing demand, American drillers are also increasing their production.

U.S. crude production from seven major shale formations is expected to increase from about 38,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July to about 7.8 million bpd, the highest since November, US Energy Information said. Administration in its monthly outlook.