Brent Climbs as U.S Strikes Iran Amidst Peace Talks
Brent crude prices rose on Tuesday following US military strikes targeting Iran, underscoring the fragility of ongoing diplomatic efforts toward a possible agreement.
Brent crude traded at $95.30 per barrel, up around 2% from the previous close of $93.42. However, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased about 5.02% to $91.74 per barrel, compared with $96.60 in the previous session.
Oil contracts, which had declined overnight on hopes for a peace deal between the parties, resumed gains after US strikes in southern Iran and Israeli operations against Hezbollah renewed market concerns.
Iranian media reported explosions in the Sirik and Jask regions, following earlier reports of blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that an agreement discussed with Iran a day earlier had “weakened hopes for an end to the conflict in the near term.”
Since the start of the war, Iran has effectively halted a large portion of non-Iranian shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, affecting nearly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
The strikes came as Iran’s chief negotiator and foreign minister were holding talks in Doha with Qatar’s prime minister on a possible agreement.
Washington and Tehran said progress had been made on a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict and giving negotiators 60 days to reach a final agreement.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said any potential agreement with Iran would be “either great and meaningful, or there will be no agreement at all.”
Trump also said negotiations with Iran were “going well” and argued that countries in the region involved in the process should simultaneously join the Abraham Accords.
With previous efforts to reach an agreement failing to deliver results, investors appear to be taking a more cautious approach. A significant decline in US crude oil inventories has also underscored the importance of the negotiations’ outcome. Global Equities Subdue in Absence of UK, US Markets
