Oil prices have risen again on hope that top crude producers could lock down an agreement to curb production.

Despite optimism over the talks in Tehran between Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh and his counterparts from Iraq, Qatar and Venezuela, Iran said it would resist any plan to restrain its oil output.

Brent gained 5.8 per cent at $34.05 (€31.00) and US crude was up 5 per cent at $30.51 a barrel. The move helped to boost shares and the energy sector, up 2.7 per cent, and materials, up 2.1 per cent, led the way higher on Wall Street.

“You might get another change in sentiment if [US crude] breaks $30 and starts to trade at $30 or $31, then you get another little push because people will think maybe that was the bottom for oil,” said Ken Polcari of O’Neil Securities in New York. – (Reuters)