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NEW YORK – Oil fell as President Donald Trump said Tehran reached out over peace talks after the start of a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, dropped 1.2 per cent to US$97.85 a barrel, as Brent settled at US$98.
The two sides are in discussions about holding more negotiations for a longer-term ceasefire, people familiar with the matter also said, after earlier talks led by Vice President JD Vance failed to produce a breakthrough.
“We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal,” Mr Trump said, without elaborating.
Iran is prepared to continue peace talks solely within the framework of international law and regulations, President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement on the government’s official news portal.
Still, Mr Trump is also pressing ahead with the blockade of the Hormuz waterway as a way of ramping up pressure on the regime in Tehran. Ships heading for, or leaving from, Iranian ports would be subject to “interception, diversion and capture,” according to a US notice seen by Bloomberg.
The International Energy Agency is due later on April 14 to release its monthly market report, which will shed fresh light on supply and demand dynamics. BLOOMBERG
