Trump pushes back on reports U.S.-Iran talks collapsed
APA Corporation’s Beryl Alpha oil platform in the North Sea.
Courtesy: APA Corporation
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as investors weighed uncertainty over U.S.-Iran talks as the two countries launched new offensives on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said talks with Tehran were continuing.
West Texas Intermediate futures for July delivery increased by over 1% to $94.81, while the international benchmark Brent crude oil for August delivery increased by 0.88% to $96.84 per barrel.
US Central Command Tuesday said He said that Iran had defeated a large number of its ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and that Iran had launched defensive strikes after the “attempted attack”, signaling increased tensions in the Middle East.
This came after Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was still in talks with Iran about a possible deal to stop the conflict and disputed reports in Iranian media suggesting communications had been cut off.
Brent oil prices this year
Rubio also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that as part of those discussions, Iran “may be able to negotiate some aspects of its nuclear program.”
This was contrary to a report by Iran’s Fars news agency on Tuesday, which said Tehran and Washington had not exchanged messages for several days. State broadcaster Tasnim had reported on Monday that Iranian negotiators would cut off indirect communication with the United States and seek to completely close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for Tehran’s global crude oil shipments.
“Fake news reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States stopped talking a few days ago are false and inaccurate,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon.
The US-Iran war has led to widespread disruption in the Middle East’s oil and gas sector, with exports collapsing, production stalled and repeated attacks on infrastructure leaving billions of dollars in damage and lengthening recovery times, analysts at Fitch Group said on Tuesday.
“Based on our analysis of conflict-related production disruptions, repair horizons for damaged assets, and recovery horizons for closed sites, we assess that Qatar, Bahrain, and Iraq are the countries most heavily exposed to conflict,” they said.
— CNBC’s Luke Fountain contributed to this story.
