A political understanding has been reached between Iran and the United States over the Iran war, but it has not yet been finalised, a senior Iranian source told Reuters on Friday. The source said U.S. Donald Trump's claim that uranium would be unearthed by the U.S. was not true, adding that the possible memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington does not include any nuclear-related issues. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Aidan Lewis) [Read more]

U.S. crude production was largely steady in March at 13.7 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration on Friday. Crude production in Texas fell to 5.78 million bpd, marking a four-month low, while output in neighboring New Mexico was steady on the month at 2.31 million bpd. Texas and New Mexico are home to the prolific Permian Basin, which accounts for roughly half of U.S. crude output. U.S. crude production is expected to have risen since March, however, [Read more]

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid said on Friday that already-hot levels of inflation make it harder to assume the current energy shock will have only a temporary impact on pricing and can be ignored by the central bank. “My primary concern is inflation, which is too hot and has been above target for too long,” Schmid said in a speech delivered before a conference in Iceland. “I place little stock in assuming that the most recent run-up in prices is transitory [Read more]

The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to extend a ceasefire, allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and lift a U.S. blockade and some sanctions on Iran, sources told Reuters, but the deal has not been finalised. An agreement would represent a big step towards ending a war that has pushed the world towards an energy crisis, though the underlying dispute over Iran's nuclear programme would only be thrashed out in talks over subsequent weeks. WHERE HAVE THE DISCUSSIONS GOT [Read more]

Oil futures fell more than 1% on Friday and were on track for their steepest weekly decline since early April, following reports that the U.S. and Iran had agreed to extend a ceasefire, though it had yet to be finalised. Brent crude futures for July fell 1.1% or $1.04 to $92.67 a barrel at 0330 GMT. U.S. oil futures fell $1.26, or 1.4%, to $87.64 a barrel. Brent plunged 10.5% this week - the steepest plunge since the week that ended on April 6, while WTI fell 9.2% - the biggest weekly loss [Read more]

The U.S. said on Thursday it has imposed new sanctions on Iran's military oil trade, even as Washington and Tehran reached a tentative agreement to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The Treasury Department said it had sanctioned eight vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude oil and petroleum products to global markets. The vessels included the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Flora, the Comoros-flagged crude oil tanker Hauncayo and [Read more]

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said on Thursday the text of a potential memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States had not yet been finalized or confirmed. The source said Tehran had not informed the Pakistani mediator that the text was complete and would notify both the mediator and the public once finalized, adding that Western media reports claiming the agreement had already been finalized were false. (Reporting by Yomna [Read more]