Crude oil futures traded higher on Tuesday morning after Iran denied holding talks with the US to end conflict in West Asia.
At 9.09 am on Tuesday, June Brent oil futures were at $100.05, up by 4.31 per cent, and May crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $91.71, up by 4.06 per cent. April crude oil futures were trading at ₹8640 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹8345, up by 3.54 per cent, and May futures were trading at ₹8413 against the previous close of ₹8126, up by 3.53 per cent.
Crude oil futures suffered some losses in Monday’s session following a post by US President Donald Trump on the social media platform Truth Social. Trump had said that the US and Iran had a ‘good and productive conversations’ to end hostilities in West Asia. He posted on Truth Social that he has instructed the US Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period.
Replying to this through a post on the social media platform X, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, said: “Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors. All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved. No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
Meanwhile, there were reports of a fire at Valero Energy’s Port Arthur refinery in the US. This increased concerns over supply disruptions, and provided support to crude oil markets. Port Arthur facility has a processing capacity of about 380,000 barrels a day.