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All eyes in the oil market are on Iran, as talk of a potential cease-fire deal to end the on-again, off-again conflict between Washington and Tehran sends oil prices sliding. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude recently traded near $76 per barrel, down from over $90 recently when U.S. forces were bombing Iran, and Iran was firing missiles and drones at its neighbors around the Persian Gulf. Oil exports from the region have plunged ever since the United States and Israel began the war on February 28, and Iran responded by shooting at oil tankers and other ships trying to pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
