Oil slides 2% as markets look past fresh Iran tensions and focus on supply outlook
Oil tankers and cargo ships are anchored off Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman, on June 21, 2026.
Elke Scholiers | Getty Images
Oil prices continued their decline on Friday as investors monitored developments in the Middle East conflict and considered whether recent diplomatic efforts would reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions.
Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for August, fell 2.03% to $73.73 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate futures contracts for August fell 2.11% to $70.4 per barrel.
Brent crude oil
A US official told MS NOW that Iran was behind an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz near the coast of Oman. The ship was sailing under the Singapore flag, according to the Wall Street Journal. UK Merchant Marine Operations He said that no loss of life or damage to the environment was reported on the ship.
“Following the launch of IMO evacuation plan“Due to this evacuation plan, in which many ships have been successfully evacuated, I have decided to temporarily suspend the implementation of this exercise in order to reaffirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be available for the ships on our evacuation list and for all ships in the area,” said Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization. he said.
Meanwhile, tensions remained high in the Middle East, with Iran and the United States at odds over the use of funds covered by the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament early Thursday rejected Trump administration claims that the Islamic Republic’s unfrozen assets would be used to buy U.S. agricultural products.
However, US officials maintained that the funds to be released would remain subject to American approval.
“As Vice President J.D. Vance announced this week, if Iranian assets are released, they will be used to purchase American agricultural products to feed the Iranian people,” a US official said.
“There’s still a lot to question about the real deal,” Scott Nations, president of Nations Indexes, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“I think we’re being too optimistic because nothing has actually been resolved and Iran knows the world economy is where it wants to be if it wants to close the strait,” Nations added.
OPEC, meanwhile, faces the possibility of its second-largest producer once again exiting after the United Arab Emirates left the cartel in May. Iraq reportedly demanded a higher production quota from the cartel and told the group that it could leave the cartel if the demands were not met.
— CNBC’s Joseph Wilkins And Dan Manganese contributed to the report.
