Oil prices slipped on Thursday as investors assessed whether progress in Iran-Oman talks could pave the way for a U.S.-Iran peace deal to end the five-month war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $79.08 a barrel by 0024 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 53 cents, or 0.7%, to $74.69 a barrel. Brent settled up slightly on Wednesday, while WTI edged lower.
"Some selling pressure emerged following reports that talks between Iran and Oman are making progress," said Yuki Takashima, economist at Nomura Securities.
Prices have simply returned to the levels seen when the United States and Iran signed an interim peace agreement on June 17, with investors closely watching whether the two sides can reach a final deal, he added.
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman to help end the U.S.-Iran conflict would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the proposal. While President Donald Trump has said a deal reopening the strait is imminent, U.S. officials have repeatedly insisted they would never agree to Iran controlling access to the world's most important trade route for energy supplies.
Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to five sources, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington's closest regional allies.
Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday they had launched a missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of the kingdom's Red Sea port city of Yanbu and another missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden. There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia on either incident.
Takashima said concerns that Houthi attacks could hit Red Sea shipping were limiting optimism about the outlook for an end to shipping disruptions in the Middle East.
Separately, U.S. crude stocks rose as refineries eased processing slightly and imports edged higher, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels to 407 million barrels in the week ended July 31, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel draw. [EIA/S]
