Shafaq News

Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday, extending thisweek's losses and trading near four-month lows, on signs that more oil tankersstranded in the Gulf are set to move out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures fell 78 cents, or 1.0%, at $76.30 abarrel as of 0350 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate slipped 78 cents, or 1.1%,to $72.43 a barrel.

Both benchmarks settled down around 1% on Tuesday, touchingtheir lowest levels since early March.

"Positive signals from the Persian Gulf are fuelling optimismabout oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Vessel ⁠crossings increased in recent days, although theyremain well below pre-war levels," ING commodity strategists said in anote on Wednesday.

Prices have also come under pressure this week after Washingtongranted Tehran a 60-day sanctions waiver following initial peace talks,allowing it to sell oil, and as hostilities in Lebanon eased.

"Crude oil prices were weighed down by hopes of easingU.S.-Iran tensions and a recovery in oil shipments through the Strait ofHormuz," said Tomomichi Akuta, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Researchand Consulting.

"Further progress in nuclear negotiations could pushprices back to pre-war levels," he added.

On Tuesday, Oman and Iran agreed to press on with discussionsabout the future administration of navigation in the Strait. U.S. ⁠Secretary of State Marco Rubiosaid any Iranian attempt to levy transit fees would violate international law.

Still, uncertainty remains over the durability of theaccord. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran had agreed tonuclear inspections into "infinity," while Tehran said it had made nosuch concession in negotiations.

Investors are also watching how quickly Middle Easternproducers can restore exports and whether more ⁠shipswill enter the region.

An Iranian military source told Fars news agency that alimited number of vessels are being allowed to pass through the strait each dayunder coordination with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy.

Ship-tracking data showed that three stranded supertankerspassed through the strait ⁠onTuesday. The U.N. shipping agency said an evacuation plan to enable hundreds ofships with 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf to sail through the strait isunderway after the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal.

Meanwhile, crude stocks fell by 765,000 barrels ⁠in the week ended June 19,market sources said, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute releasedon Tuesday. Nine analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that crudeinventories fell by about 4.5 million barrels in the last week.

(REUTERS)

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