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Brent and WTI slip as Iran-Oman talks boost hopes for US-Iran deal
Brent futures fell 0.5% to $79.08 a barrel and WTI lost 0.7% to $74.69, even as US crude inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels to 407 million for the week ended July 31.
Oil prices eased as investors weighed the prospect that ongoing Iran-Oman negotiations could help pave the way for a US-Iran peace agreement, which would potentially end the five month conflict and allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to LiveMint Markets.
Brent crude futures slipped 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $79.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, fell 53 cents, or 0.7%, to $74.69. Reuters cited a proposed framework in which Iran and Oman would ease the US-Iran conflict, potentially letting Tehran oversee ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a concession that US officials have said Washington would not support.
Market sentiment stayed cautious amid continued geopolitical risk. Iran warned Gulf nations that any renewed US military action would be met with retaliation targeting energy infrastructure, and Yemen-based Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for missile attacks on Saudi oil tankers near Yanbu in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, though Saudi authorities had not confirmed the incidents.
Additional factors included supply data from the US Energy Information Administration. LiveMint Markets reported that US crude inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels to 407 million barrels in the week ended July 31, versus analysts expecting a 1.5 million barrel decline, reflecting slightly lower refinery activity and higher crude imports.
Latest closeWTI crude $75.12 ▼0.9%|Brent $79.49 ▲0.2%