Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday, extending the previous session’s losses, as investors looked for clearer signs that crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz would return to normal following US-Iran peace talks.
Brent crude futures fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $77.70 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.74 a barrel as of 0323 GMT.
Prices dropped more than 3% on Monday after the United States granted Iran a 60-day sanctions waiver following initial peace talks, while officials reported reduced tensions in Lebanon under a broader agreement.
The market remained cautious after recent threats and uncertainty over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route. Investors are waiting for evidence that the agreement will hold and that tanker traffic will fully recover.
“There remains a prevailing dose of market scepticism, rooted in deep-seated mistrust between Washington and Tehran, suggesting that any return to pre-war oil prices is likely to be delayed rather than immediate,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
US President Donald Trump said Iran would agree to weapons inspections to ensure “nuclear honesty” and warned that action would be taken if Tehran failed to follow the agreement.
“The market had priced in optimism around the roadmap and potential Strait of Hormuz reopening, but traders are now taking a more measured approach as they await concrete evidence that the deal will hold and traffic will normalise,” Waterer said.
Meanwhile, two crude tankers carrying nearly 2 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, according to ship-tracking data, indicating that traffic was gradually improving after weaker flows over the weekend.
Separately, US crude reserves in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 331.2 million barrels last week, the lowest level since June 1983, according to Department of Energy data, as supplies tightened following the US-Iran conflict.
Source: Reuters/ Geo News
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
