Oil prices extended losses on Tuesday, as markets weighed prospects for resumption of supply through the key Strait of Hormuz against shaky physical market drivers and a lack of details from a preliminary deal to end the Iran war. By 0436 GMT, Brent crude futures fell 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $82.92 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate inched down 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $80.66 a barrel. On Monday, oil prices fell nearly 5% to their lowest close since March 4, after U.S. President Donald [Read more]

Goldman Sachs lowered its fourth-quarter Brent crude oil price forecast to $80 from $90 and cut its 2027 average estimate to $75 from $80, after the U.S. and Iran signed a preliminary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts at the investment bank said in a research note released late on Monday they now assume that Gulf exports normalise to pre-war levels by the end of July versus the end of August expected previously. Oil prices eased on Tuesday, having slipped nearly 5% to [Read more]

The discount on Western Canada Select crude oil to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures widened on Monday. WCS for July delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $11.40 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI, according to brokerage CalRock, compared to $11.15 a barrel on Friday. * WCS is ending its monthly trading cycle with the differential nearly $4 tighter than it was in mid May. It has been on a narrowing trend this month, tightening by approximately $4 since [Read more]

Vice President JD Vance on Monday said the U.S.' memorandum of understanding with Iran was "a very general document" with specifics of the deal to be worked out during further negotiations. "The MOU...is about a page and half so it is a very general document," Vance said on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper. "On a number of issues, we are going to have to figure this stuff out during the technical negotiation phase." (Reporting by Christian Martinez) [Read more]

Stocks of crude oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 340.3 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983, according to data from the Department of Energy on Monday, signaling tight supplies just as the U.S. and Iran agree on a deal to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. Inventories in the government's emergency stash fell by 8.9 million barrels, the third steepest draw on record. The drawdowns are a part of a U.S. agreement to loan 172 million barrels from the facility to [Read more]

Citi on Monday cut its average Brent crude forecasts to $75 and $70 per barrel for the third and fourth quarters of 2026, respectively, citing expectations that the Strait of Hormuz trade flows will resume and normalize after the U.S. and Iran approved a memorandum of understanding to end the war in the Gulf. The bank also lowered its 2027 Brent forecast to $65 per barrel from $80 previously, shifting its outlook toward what had been its bear-case scenario, it said in a note. Citi said its [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said an agreement with Iran has been signed and that the text of the deal would be released sometime after a formal signing on Friday, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would also be fully open. Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of this week's G7 meeting, Trump said he did not know if he would attend the Friday ceremony expected in Geneva, but that U.S. Vice President JD Vance would be there. "The deal's all signed. And the strait is [Read more]

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that he hopes text of an agreement to halt the war in Iran and open the Strait of Hormuz will be released this week, as further negotiations over the deal's details were set to continue. In an interview on CNBC, Vance also said the United States expects the economically vital waterway would be open without tolls on a long-term basis. "Our expectation is that the Strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long-term," he [Read more]