(RTTNews) – Extending losses from Thursday’s slide due to easing supply concerns, crude oil prices have plunged on Monday despite Iranian military declaring shutting the Strait of Hormuz again.
The U.S. military’s denial of Iran’s contention and reaffirmation that commercial vessels are operating freely weighed on oil prices amid ongoing U.S.-Iran talks.
WTI Crude Oil for July month delivery was last seen trading down by $1.63 (or 2.13%) at $74.97 per barrel.
Last Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian inked a deal to end their more-than-100 days of war.
The 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed between the U.S. and Iran allowed both nations a ceasefire period of 60 days during which all points of dispute can be discussed. The deal allowed immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of the U.S. naval blockade on Iran.
Oil and energy traders welcomed this much-awaited move as the strait had been shut since the beginning of the war on February 28.
High-level negotiations between the U.S. and Iranian teams began in Switzerland over the weekend. U.S. Vice President JD Vance and chief negotiators U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner headed the U.S. team.
Iranian Parliament’s Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian team of negotiators.
Briefly, the peace talks were hindered by a walk-out of Iranian official representatives in protest against the strong remarks made by Trump.
Condemning the Israeli attacks on Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced the closing of the Strait of Hormuz again.
Angered by this, Trump warned via Truth Social that if the strait is closed, there would be no Iran and even added that Iranian negotiators would not make it back to Iran.
Further, in an interview with Fox News, Trump threatened that the U.S. could take control of the strait and begin collecting tolls if Iran fails to make a deal with the U.S.
Protesting against Trump’s threats, representatives in the Iranian team walked out of discussions, leaving the negotiations to be handled by their high-level politicians. The negotiations went on for around 80 minutes, according to Iranian media.
While the political team departed from Switzerland, other negotiators remain to carry on technical talks over the course of this week.
Vance claimed that great progress has been achieved towards making a final deal and Araghchi announced that Iran has secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports.
The U.S. Treasury Department authorized the production, delivery, and sale of Iran’s crude oil through August 21. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the talks with Iran productive.
Bessent also added that Iran has committed to permit specialists from International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct inspections in Iranian installations.
After the nearly two-month U.S. naval blockade on ships was lifted, Iran is rushing to move its stored oil inventories out of the gulf region.
Citing a compilation of vessel-carrying data, Bloomberg reported that at least three super-tankers carrying nearly 6 million barrels of Iranian crude oil were heading to be transited out of the region.
Aside from Iranian ships, reports indicate that traffic is picking up across the strait with several oil-loaded tankers exiting the Gulf of Oman over the weekend.
An analysis from maritime intelligence company Windward showed that a total of 12 vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, down from 35 transits on Saturday.
Kpler reported that five vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, lower from the nearly 26 spotted on Saturday.
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