Building collapse in Philippines leaves 3 dead, 17 missing
Tragic building collapse in Angeles City, Philippines leaves 3 dead and 17 missing.
Al Jazeera English1 min read
Oil prices fall amid mixed signals on US-Iran peace deal
TL;DR
Oil prices have dropped about 5% amid uncertain prospects for a US-Iran peace deal. Brent crude futures are currently at $98.47 a barrel, down 9% from a month ago.
Key points
- Oil prices fell about 5 percent amid US-Iran peace deal uncertainty
- Brent crude futures are at $98.47 a barrel
- Prices are down 9 percent from a month ago but up over a third since the war started
- Nikkei 225 index surged more than 3 percent to an all-time high
- Trump indicated negotiations with Tehran are constructive but not rushed
Mentioned in this story
USIranIsraelDonald Trump
Nikkei 225Brent crude
Oil prices have fallen sharply amid tentative hopes for a deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
Brent crude, the primary benchmark for global oil prices, fell about 5 percent on Sunday as US President Donald Trump gave mixed signals on the prospects for a permanent end to the conflict.
Brent futures for July stood at $98.47 a barrel as of 01:05 GMT, down about 9 percent from a month ago but still up by more than a third compared with before the start of the war.
Japan’s benchmark stock index, the Nikkei 225, surged more than 3 percent in morning trading, hitting an all-time high after closing at a record peak on Friday.
Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that negotiations with Tehran were proceeding in an “orderly and constructive manner”, but he had instructed officials “not to rush into a deal”.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s remarks came after he raised hopes for a breakthrough on Saturday by announcing that a deal had been “largely negotiated,” with the terms including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Fundamentally, there is no change to the underlying picture, where 10-11 million barrels per day of crude oil continue to be shut-in for every day the Strait of Hormuz remains shut,” June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.
“However, markets are expecting a gush of 100 million barrels of crude oil from the stranded ships to flow out once the deal is in place.”
Goh said markets are likely to remain on edge for some time after any deal is finalised.
“Sparta estimates still about three to six months required to get everything back to status quo, including time to bring production and refineries back online,” Goh said.
Iran has effectively blockaded the strait since the start of the war in late February, disrupting about one-fifth of the global oil trade.
The US has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports since mid-April, further disrupting commercial shipping in the waterway.
In his Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said the US blockade would remain “in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed”.
Q&A
What caused the recent drop in oil prices?
The recent drop in oil prices is attributed to mixed signals from US President Donald Trump regarding the potential for a peace deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
How much have Brent crude prices changed recently?
Brent crude prices have fallen about 9% over the past month, currently standing at $98.47 a barrel.
What impact did the US-Iran negotiations have on the stock market?
The uncertainty surrounding US-Iran negotiations coincided with a surge in Japan's Nikkei 225 index, which rose more than 3% to reach an all-time high.
