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The huge relief rally across global markets and oil price plunge sparked by the ceasefire in the Iran war are no surprise. What follows, once the initial euphoria dissipates, is far less certain - and far less rosy than investors seem to believe. And the euphoria should dissipate pretty quickly. Leaving aside the very real possibility that the two-week ceasefire doesn't hold and oil snaps back above $100 a barrel, the economic damage wrought by the last six weeks will linger for a long [Read more]

Imposing a toll on ships sailing through the critical Strait of Hormuz would "set a dangerous precedent" and countries should not impede freedom of navigation, the UN's shipping agency said on Thursday. Iranian officials have raised the idea of charging a toll for using the Strait after a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Tehran was agreed this week. "There is no international agreement where tolls can be introduced for transiting international straits. Any such toll will [Read more]

Iran will allow no more than 15 vessels a day to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under the ceasefire agreement it agreed with the United States, Russia's state TASS news agency quoted an unnamed senior Iranian source as saying on Thursday. The Strait, a strip of water only 34 km (21 miles) wide between Iran and Oman, provides passage from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilisers. It has been [Read more]

European and African crude oil prices climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, defying a sharp selloff in oil futures after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire was reached on Tuesday, as traders priced in a prolonged disruption to physical oil supplies. The ceasefire announcement sent major benchmark Brent and WTI contracts tumbling 13% and 16% respectively on Wednesday to below $100 a barrel, as investors bet on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a reduced geopolitical risk premium.. However, [Read more]

The U.S. and Iran are set to hold peace talks in Pakistan, which has been mediating, but remain deeply divided on key issues, even though President Donald Trump has said proposals presented by Tehran were a "basis" for talks. Each side is sticking to competing demands for a deal to end the war that could shape the Middle East for generations. WHERE DO BOTH SIDES STAND? An Iranian delegation is due to arrive in Islamabad for talks based on a 10-point proposal, which shows little overlap [Read more]

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will say on Thursday that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries around a fifth of the world's oil and gas, must be toll-free, countering a push by Iran to control the vital waterway. Iran has said it wants to charge fees for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the strait was formally treated as an international waterway. "The fundamental freedoms of the seas must not be unilaterally [Read more]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday its military ships and aircraft will remain around Iran and threatened that the U.S. will start "shooting" again unless Tehran fully complies with the deal reached with Washington. "All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry... will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "If for any reason it [Read more]

Oil prices rose on Thursday on investors' concerns supply from the key Middle East producing region may not fully resume amid doubts the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will hold and as the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains restricted. Brent crude futures were up $2.6, or 2.74%, at $97.35 a barrel at 0048 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $3.02, or 3.2%, to $97.43 a barrel. Both benchmark prices fell below $100 per barrel in the previous trading session, [Read more]