Oil fell amid the focus on the "truce" in Russia's war against Ukraine, US-Iran talks
Kyiv • UNN
Oil prices fell: Brent below $67, WTI to $63. This happened amid concerns about the impact of the US trade war on demand and monitoring talks between Washington and Tehran on the nuclear program, which could affect supplies.
Oil prices fell as traders were concerned about the impact of the U.S.-led trade war on energy demand, while monitoring talks between Washington and Tehran on Iran's nuclear program, writes UNN citing Bloomberg.
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Brent crude fell 2% to below $67 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate approached $63. Data expected to show how U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies are affecting the global economy could provide new evidence of a slowdown, including a revised International Monetary Fund forecast.
Iran's Foreign Minister said his country had reached the "best understanding" with the United States on a set of principles after Saturday's talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The discussions, which lasted more than three hours, will resume on Wednesday in Oman and could affect supplies of Iranian crude oil.
"Everything around indicates a bearish sentiment - from macroeconomic fundamentals to geopolitics," said Gao Jian, an analyst at Qisheng Futures Co. "The main risk remains concern about economic recession."
Oil prices have fallen sharply this month, at one point reaching a four-year low, fueled by investor fears that the onslaught of tariffs and counter-tariffs between the U.S. and its major trading partners, including China, would undermine oil demand. The decline was exacerbated by the OPEC+ decision to resume production at a faster-than-expected pace, which revived fears of a surplus.
"The U.S.-Iran nuclear talks appear to be making relatively good progress, helping to alleviate a rather large supply risk hanging over the oil market," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV in Singapore. "It's still early days, but the fact that further talks are planned suggests that we are at least moving in the right direction."
Trading volumes may be lower than usual in Monday's session as some countries observe Easter holidays. At the same time, contango pricing - a bearish pattern - has returned to parts of the futures curve, with some long-term contracts trading above short-term ones.
In Ukraine, meanwhile, as noted, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported violations of the Easter truce by Kremlin forces, announced by Russian dictator vladimir putin. Earlier, the U.S. offered allies a possible easing of sanctions against Russia in the event of a sustained ceasefire.