Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending the losses recorded this week and trading near a four-month low hit in the previous session, amid signs that more oil tankers stranded in the Gulf since the outbreak of the Iran war will depart the Strait of Hormuz.
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Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.71 a barrel by 00:43 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $72.85 a barrel.
Both benchmarks had fallen about 1% on Tuesday, marking their lowest levels since early March.
Prices came under pressure this week after Washington granted Tehran a 60-day sanctions waiver following initial talks, allowing it to sell oil, and as hostilities eased in Lebanon.
"Crude prices were negatively impacted by hopes of easing tensions between the United States and Iran, and a recovery in oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz," said Tomomichi Akuta, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting.
He added, "Further progress in nuclear negotiations could bring prices back to pre-war levels."
The Sultanate of Oman and Iran agreed on Tuesday to move forward with discussions regarding the future management of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that any Iranian attempt to impose transit fees would constitute a violation of international law.
However, doubts remain over the sustainability of the agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran had agreed to "indefinite" nuclear inspections, whereas Tehran asserted that it had made no such concessions during negotiations.
Investors are also monitoring how quickly Middle Eastern producers can resume exports, and whether additional vessels will enter the region.
An Iranian military source told Fars News Agency that passage through the strait is permitted for a limited number of ships per day in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy.
Vessel tracking data showed that three stranded supertankers crossed the strait on Tuesday.
The United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) indicated the launch of an evacuation plan to assist around 11,000 sailors stranded aboard ships in the Gulf to cross the Strait of Hormuz, following the ceasefire agreement between Iran and the United States.
Meanwhile, market sources, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) released on Tuesday, said that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 765,000 barrels in the week ended June 19.
Nine analysts polled by Reuters had estimated, on average, that crude inventories fell by about 4.5 million barrels over the past week.
(Reuters)
