- Brent and WTI futures rise in early trade.
- Iran to meet with mediators instead of US officials.
- US crude oil inventories fell by 6.1 million. barrels last week.
Oil prices rose in early trade on Wednesday as investors reacted to news that Iran will not meet with US envoys, a further strain on the tentative ceasefire agreed between the two in the four-month war.
Brent futures rose 50 cents, or 0.69%, to $73.45 a barrel. barrel by 1208 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 63 cents, or 0.91%, at $70.13 a barrel. barrel.
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Doha for what the White House described as “high-level” talks on Tuesday, but Iran and host Qatar said they would meet with mediators rather than the Iranians themselves.
Qatar said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was among those to Witkoff and Kushner.
Brent fell by about $45 a barrel. barrel between the first and second quarters of this year, the biggest quarterly loss since 2008 during the financial crisis. U.S. crude futures, meanwhile, fell by about $31, their biggest quarterly loss since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic crushed global oil demand.
The declines followed progress toward ending the conflict in the Middle East, pulling back from the sharp gains previously sparked by the hostilities.
Analysts have cut their 2026 oil price forecasts for the first time since the Iran war began, after five straight monthly gains, as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz eased concerns over prolonged supply disruptions, a Reuters poll showed Tuesday.
US Vice President JD Vance said Iran would be prevented from tolling through the strait, telling the Michael Knowles Show: “This is not going to end in a place where the Iranians are tolling ships going through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Tanker traffic through the critical waterway has begun to recover, and Vance claims that oil flows through the strait had been restored to pre-war levels.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil inventories fell again last week, while gasoline inventories also fell, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute data released on Tuesday.
Crude stockpiles fell by 6.1 million barrels in the week ended June 26, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
Markets await official US oil stock data from the Energy Information Administration to be released at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.
