(Bloomberg) — Oil held the biggest drop in more than two weeks on optimism that a deal between the US and Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate traded near $81 a barrel after sinking almost 5% on Monday, while Brent ended near $83. The agreement is due to be signed by the two sides in Switzerland on Friday, with President Donald Trump insisting that the waterway would be clear. “We have a lot of lanes right now already,” he told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in France.
Oil’s retreat to the lowest since early March has erased the bulk of the gains seen during the conflict, easing inflationary pressures just as policymakers at the Federal Reserve assess interest rates this week. Still, traders and producers are awaiting more details of the pact to determine whether transits of the waterway can resume in earnest. Before the war, about a fifth of global oil supply passed through the chokepoint between Iran and Oman.
“The earliest that oil supply can get back to prewar levels is the end of July,” said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James. “The oil industry still needs to resolve all of the logistical hurdles before supply can normalize.”|
At present, nearly 300 vessels loaded with cargo are waiting to exit the Persian Gulf, and there’s around the same number of empty ships waiting to head into the region and pick up goods, according to data from intelligence firm Kpler.
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