Brent oil holds near $80 amid uncertainty over US-Iran meeting
Brent crude oil prices hovered near $80 per barrel on Friday, on track for a weekly decline of about 8%, following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah set to take effect that day. If upheld, the truce could clear a significant hurdle for broader peace negotiations between the US and Iran which has been delayed due to Israel attacks on Lebanon. Meanwhile, Tehran announced that vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz would could pass through the strait without any fee fro 60 days, which are but may incur fees in the future, reinforcing Iran’s control claims over the vital waterway. Market data indicated a slowdown in shipping activity after a previous surge in tanker movements, with no outbound vessels observed leaving the Persian Gulf on Friday morning. By contrast, nearly 10 million barrels of crude were either transiting or stationed near the strait on Thursday, including the first Saudi-owned tankers to move since the conflict began over three months ago. Still uncertainty persists following the cancellation of planned US-Iran talks in Switzerland.
