Shafaq News

Oil pricesrose on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session, as hostilities inthe Middle East erupted anew with Iran firing missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain,while diplomatic talks between Iran and the U.S. showed little progress.

Brentfutures gained 81 cents, or 0.8%, to $96.81 a barrel at 0330 GMT, while U.S.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 91 cents, or 1.0%, to $94.67.

Bothbenchmarks settled at a one-week high in the previous session.

Iranlaunched ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors Kuwait and Bahrain butfailed to hit targets, the U.S. military said, adding that ⁠American forcesconducted strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in response to the attempted attacks.

"Thestalling in the U.S.-Iran negotiations and IEA warnings of critical global lowstock levels are adding upward layers in risk premium in benchmarkprices," said Emril Jamil, a senior analyst for oil at LSEG.

Global oilinventories could hit critical levels ahead of the peak summer demand period ifstock draws continue at their current pace, the head of the InternationalEnergy Agency's oil industry and markets division said on Tuesday.

The marketawaited news on the Iran war, with Tehran reviewing a proposed agreement withthe U.S. to ⁠halt the conflict.

Iran has notcommunicated with Washington for a few days, Iranian media reported on Tuesday,though Trump said negotiations had been going on continuously.

ANZ banksenior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said any efforts to reopen the Straitof Hormuz face challenges as Iran has mined large portions of the vitalwaterway.

"Therehas ⁠been a slight tick up in vessels attempting the journey, but totaltransits remain significantly below pre-conflict levels," Hynes said.

More thanthree months after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran, theconflict is stuck in ⁠a stalemate, with a shaky ceasefire in place.

On thesupply side, U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a seventh straight week lastweek, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute data⁠released on Tuesday.

Crude stocksfell by 6.8 million barrels in the week ended May 29, the sources said.

U.S.government data on stockpiles is due at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Wednesday.

(REUTERS)

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