July WTI crude oil (CLN26) on Wednesday closed down -5.21 (-5.55%), and July RBOB gasoline (RBN26) closed down -0.0798 (-2.54%). Crude oil and gasoline prices on Wednesday fell sharply for a second day, with crude posting a 5-week low and gasoline posting a 6-week low. Crude prices are under pressure in hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran that could soon reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Crude prices sold off on Wednesday after Iranian television said it obtained an unofficial draft of the US-Iran memorandum, which said US military forces would lift the naval blockade of Iran while Iran would allow restored commercial transit shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, crude prices recovered from their lows when US officials said the unofficial draft obtained by Iranian state television is a "complete fabrication" and "not true."