Crude oil futures traded lower on Wednesday morning as indirect talks between the US and Iran continued despite US military strikes on Iranian targets earlier this week.
At 9.12 am on Wednesday, August Brent oil futures were at $95.13, down by 1.59 per cent, and July crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $92.18, down by 1.82 per cent. June crude oil futures were trading at ₹8862 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Wednesday against the previous close of ₹9014, down by 1.69 per cent, and July futures were trading at ₹8596 against the previous close of ₹8747, down by 1.73 per cent.
Some reports said the US and Iran are continuing their indirect talks to open the Strait of Hormuz and to end the war, despite the recent reports of US military strikes on targets in Southern Iran. However, the US defended the strikes earlier this week. The Central Command stated that the strikes were designed to protect its troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
Iranian media had also reported explosions in Bandar Abbas city and coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz.
On the ongoing peace talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stated recently that any deal could still take several days to complete.
US President Donald Trump had stated on the social media platform Truth Social that negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported an incident of explosion on a vessel off Oman’s coast. UKMTO said it received a report of an incident 60 nautical miles east of Muscat in Oman. The Master of the tanker reported an external explosion on the vessel. It said the crew and vessel are safe. The vessel has discharged some bunker into the sea, the Master said.
A Reuters report said a cargo of crude oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve is heading to the Philippines, the first shipment of US emergency reserve oil to Asia since November 2022.