By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures drifted lower in Asian trading hours Monday as investors wait for talks over Iran's nuclear program to commence later this week and economic data releases for hints about U.S. monetary policy. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $93.47 a barrel at 0602 GMT, down $0.37 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.37 to $108.13 a barrel. The premium of ICE Brent crude to Nymex WTI remains wide at around $14.68 a barrel after the two benchmarks moved in opposite directions last week. "WTI prices remained weak on rising stock levels, planned and unplanned refinery maintenance, strong import levels and rising oil production," Barclays said in its weekly energy outlook. "Brent futures rose on colder weather in Europe, unrest in Iraq and Libya and as prospects of a deal with Iran dimmed after the latest round of negotiations in Geneva," the bank said. A new round of international talks over Tehran's nuclear program is expected to start Wednesday night in Geneva. Earlier this month, western leaders and Iran were close to an initial deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions, but the deal didn't materialize. "Even if sanctions are lifted, it is important to note that crude oil production would take some time to return to pre-sanction levels since restarting flows takes time and additional investment," consulting firm Poten & Partners said. "Relaxed sanctions could lead Iranian flows back to Europe, possibly boosting refinery utilization rates in the region, which reportedly range from 50% to 60% at the present time," Poten said, adding that the impacts of relaxed sanctions would not be immediate. Iran oil production has fallen to around 2.6 million barrels a day from around 4 million barrels a day in 2005, and exports have dropped to around 715,000 barrels a day in the last couple of months, Poten's data showed. Meanwhile, economic data on tap this week includes global manufacturing data and the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting in October. Investors are also digesting China's plan for economic reform released Friday. Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for December--the benchmark gasoline contract--fell 20 points to $2.6557 a gallon, while December heating oil traded at $2.9392, 3 points higher. ICE gasoil for December changed hands at $912.00 a metric ton, up $0.75 from Friday's settlement.

Source