Oil Prices Fall as Investors Focus on Potential U.S.-Iran Talks in Doha

PUKMEDIA

Oil prices.

Oil prices ‌dipped on Tuesday and were poised for a monthly decline, with investors eyeing potential U.S.-Iran talks in Doha amid a strained interim ceasefire in the four-month-old war.

According to Reuters report, Brent August crude futures , which expire on Tuesday, were down 0.9%, or 64 cents, at $72.51 a barrel as of 0356 GMT. These levels are around $20, or 22%, lower than last month's closing. The more actively traded September contract was down 0.4%, or 31 cents, at $73.6 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate ⁠for August fell 0.6%, or 39 cents, to $70.36 a barrel. Prices are set for around a $17 drop, or 19%, from the 29 May closing.

Both Brent and WTI prices are almost back at pre-war levels on 27 February.

Iranian and Omani experts will start talks on redefining transit paths through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV on Monday, ‌adding that ⁠his country will try to obstruct vessels outside defined paths.

However, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said there will not be any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days.

"The meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not. We're going to find out," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The uncertainty over whether the two sides would ⁠meet highlighted the fragility of a 17 June agreement to pause fighting that has disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and posed a political challenge for Trump ahead of November's congressional elections.



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