Oil Prices Steady Amid US-Iran Peace Talks and Hormuz Flows
Oil prices remained steady on Tuesday as investors focused on crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz following progress in US-Iran peace talks. Brent crude futures were down 26 cents, or around 0.3%, to $77.64 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.69 a barrel at 1155 GMT.
The US granted Iran a 60-day sanctions waiver following initial peace talks, leading to a decline in prices of over 3% on Monday. However, market analyst Ole Hvalbye from SEB Research pointed out that the easing of sanctions wouldn't have a significant impact on prices in the short term, as the US-Iranian memorandum of understanding is still new and fragile.
A limited number of vessels are being allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day under coordination with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy. The world has lost millions of barrels of oil and gas supply since the war closed the strait, a chokepoint for about a fifth of the world's oil and LNG supplies, for more than three months.