19.10.201807:03:00UTC+00Oil Prices Rebound As Iran Sanctions Loom

Oil prices recovered some lost ground on Friday as investors shifted their focus back to the impending U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports, which will come into force on November 4.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil climbed 83 cents or 1.05 percent to $80.12 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 46 cents or 0.67 percent at $69.11a barrel.

As analysts debate the impact of Iran sanctions, U.S. politicians have spoken of sanctioning Saudi officials found culpable in the killing of U.S. journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The kingdom already said that if it receives any action, it would respond with greater action.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, he presumes Khashoggi had likely been killed and that the U.S. response to Saudi Arabia will likely be "very severe".

Meanwhile, China's refinery crude throughput rose an annual 4.9 percent to a record high of 12.54 million barrels per day in September, despite the country's economy expanding at its slowest pace in nine years in the third quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.