Oil prices fall for a second day on expectations US-Iran talks may resume

Oil prices fell for a second day on Wednesday on expectations peace talks between the U.S. and Iran may resume and eventually release supply from the key Middle East producing region trapped by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures fell 52 cents, or 0.55 per cent, to $94.27 a barrel at 0054 GMT after falling 4.6 per cent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.04, or 1.1 per cent, to $90.24 after dropping 7.9 per cent the session before.

Talks to end the war between the U.S. and Israel and Iran could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after the collapse of negotiations over the weekend prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports. This has increased optimism talks could eventually settle the conflict and open up crude oil and fuel flows.

The war has shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for crude and refined product flows out of the Gulf to global buyers, particularly in Asia and Europe. 

Despite a two-week ceasefire, transit through the strait remains uncertain, with traffic at only a fraction of the 130 or so vessels that moved through the waterway before the war, sources said on Tuesday.

A U.S. destroyer stopped two oil tankers from leaving Iran on Tuesday, a U.S. official said.  

“While diplomatic headlines suggest the possibility of renewed U.S.-Iran talks and even a temporary easing of transit restrictions, the physical reality remains fragmented,” the Schork Group said in a note.

“The result is a market that continues to price optionality around flow disruption rather than a return to equilibrium.”

The market stands to lose some access to further supply after two U.S. administration officials told Reuters on Tuesday the U.S. will not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week, and quietly let a similar waiver on sanctions on Russian oil expire over the weekend.

Later in the day, markets will be watching for official U.S. inventory data from the Energy Information Administration due at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT). 

U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have risen slightly last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories likely fell, a Reuters poll showed. 

Market sources familiar with American Petroleum Institute figures said on Tuesday U.S. crude oil inventories jumped for the third straight week. 

Source: Reuters
-- Agencies