Oil prices extended their gains on Monday, rising by nearly 2% as peace talks between the United States and Iran faltered. Meanwhile, shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remained limited, keeping global oil supplies tight.
اضافة اعلان
Market Snapshot
By 23:46 GMT, market prices stood as follows:
Brent Crude Futures: Up $2.16 (2.05%) to $107.49 per barrel—the highest level since April 7.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI): Up $1.77 (1.88%) to $96.17 per barrel.
Last week, Brent and WTI surged by approximately 17% and 13% respectively, marking their largest weekly gains since the start of the war.
Geopolitical Deadlock
Hopes for reviving peace efforts faded over the weekend when U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a scheduled trip by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, despite the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Pakistan.
"This move puts the ball squarely in Iran's court, and time is now running out fast," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, in a note. He added that Tehran might be forced to halt production at its aging oil fields once storage capacity is exhausted.
Supply Chain Disruptions
Tehran has largely closed the Strait, while Washington has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely restricted; data from Kpler showed that only one oil product tanker crossed the Strait into the Gulf on Sunday.
Analyst Outlook
Goldman Sachs raised its fourth-quarter price forecasts to $90 per barrel for Brent and $83 for WTI, citing reduced production from the Middle East.
In a note issued on April 26, Goldman analysts led by Dan Struyven stated:
"Economic risks are greater than our baseline crude oil forecasts alone suggest, due to net upside risks to oil prices, unusually high refined product prices, risks of product shortages, and the unprecedented scale of the shock."
Source: Reuters
