Reports that the White House has requested a ceasefire in the Iran war are wrong, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday but added that discussions about a second round of talks with the Iranians were ongoing and productive. Speaking at a White House press briefing, Leavitt said any fresh talks would likely be in Pakistan again as it has emerged as the "only mediator" in the effort to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. "These conversations are productive and ongoing, [Read more]

Iran could consider allowing ships to sail freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack as part of proposals it has offered in negotiations with the United States, providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by Tehran said. The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has resulted in the largest-ever disruption of global oil and gas supplies due to Iran's interruption of traffic through the strait, which handles about 20% of the world's oil and [Read more]

The United States will not be renewing the waivers that allowed purchase of some Iranian and Russian oil without facing U.S. sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Wednesday. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Washington would ‌not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week, and let a similar waiver on sanctions on Russian oil expire over the weekend. "We will not be renewing the general license on Russian oil, and we will not be [Read more]

Iran can withstand a complete halt in oil exports of up to two months before being forced to curb production, analysts said, after the U.S. began blocking shipping in and out of the country's ports on April 13. The blockade could prevent roughly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude from reaching its main buyer China. Any Iranian production shutdowns would add to more than 12 million bpd of supply already disrupted by the regional war, tightening markets further and lifting oil [Read more]

U.S. crude stocks, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories fell by 913,000 barrels to 463.8 million barrels in the week ended April 10, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 154,000-barrel rise. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week, the EIA said. Oil futures pared earlier losses following the report. Global [Read more]

Total U.S. crude oil and petroleum products exports rose to 12.7 million barrels per day last week, the highest on record, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in its ongoing war with the U.S. and Israel has sharply cut Middle Eastern oil exports and raised demand for U.S. barrels. Total U.S. oil and products exports rose about 1 million bpd week-over-week, the biggest jump in a month, the EIA data [Read more]

The United States and Iran made progress in talks on Tuesday and are moving closer to a framework agreement to end the war, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing two US officials. (Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona;) [Read more]