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Asia midday crude futures: Ice Brent pares gains
Ice Brent futures fell in early Asian trading after US president Donald Trump claimed further progress on ending the war in the Middle East.
The Ice front-month May Brent contract was at $99.98/bl at 04:00 GMT, lower by $4.51/bl from its settlement on 24 March when it ended $4.55/bl higher.
The Nymex front-month May crude contract was at $89.07/bl, down by $3.28/bl from its settlement on 24 March when it ended $4.22/bl higher.
Trump said his administration received a "significant prize" from Iran on 24 March. "They gave us a present, and the present arrived today, it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money," Trump said on Tuesday. "They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it, so that meant one thing to me: We're dealing with the right people."
Iranian leaders have denied any negotiations with the US are taking place. There has been a "jawboning campaign" to push down the price of oil futures, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X on 24 March. Ghalibaf raised doubts that those efforts would translate into "actual fuel" being available.
Trump's sudden shift from threats to talks with Iran has done little to revive tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz. Only two notable crossings were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to MarineTraffic data.
Traffic through Hormuz remains 95pc below pre-war levels, shipbroker Clarksons said, averaging four crossings a day over the past week, compared with around 125 before the conflict began on 28 February.
The UK government has rebuked calls from energy industry group Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) to increase domestic oil and gas production.
OEUK released a new report on 24 March showing that the UK could almost double the amount of gas and oil it produces through to 2050 with changes to tax and regulations, adding 3.7bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) to current projections for production from the UK continental shelf. This is on top of the 3.8mn boe over the 2025-50 period the UK is currently on track to recover, the industry organisation said.
The European Commission has delayed its proposal to phase out Russian oil imports initially scheduled for adoption on 15 April without setting a new date, but said that the permanent ban remains a priority.
Russia has begun "government-level talks" with Sri Lanka on possible oil supplies, state-owned Tass reported, citing Sri Lankan officials. Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said on 24 March that a planned visit by Russia's deputy energy minister could help advance negotiations, as Colombo seeks to secure crude supplies disrupted by the US-Israel war on Iran.
Ice Brent futures fell in early Asian trading after US president Donald Trump claimed further progress on ending the war in the Middle East.
The Ice front-month May Brent contract was at $99.98/bl at 04:00 GMT, lower by $4.51/bl from its settlement on 24 March when it ended $4.55/bl higher.
The Nymex front-month May crude contract was at $89.07/bl, down by $3.28/bl from its settlement on 24 March when it ended $4.22/bl higher.
Trump said his administration received a "significant prize" from Iran on 24 March. "They gave us a present, and the present arrived today, it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money," Trump said on Tuesday. "They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it, so that meant one thing to me: We're dealing with the right people."
Iranian leaders have denied any negotiations with the US are taking place. There has been a "jawboning campaign" to push down the price of oil futures, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X on 24 March. Ghalibaf raised doubts that those efforts would translate into "actual fuel" being available.
Trump's sudden shift from threats to talks with Iran has done little to revive tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz. Only two notable crossings were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to MarineTraffic data.
Traffic through Hormuz remains 95pc below pre-war levels, shipbroker Clarksons said, averaging four crossings a day over the past week, compared with around 125 before the conflict began on 28 February.
The UK government has rebuked calls from energy industry group Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) to increase domestic oil and gas production.
OEUK released a new report on 24 March showing that the UK could almost double the amount of gas and oil it produces through to 2050 with changes to tax and regulations, adding 3.7bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) to current projections for production from the UK continental shelf. This is on top of the 3.8mn boe over the 2025-50 period the UK is currently on track to recover, the industry organisation said.
The European Commission has delayed its proposal to phase out Russian oil imports initially scheduled for adoption on 15 April without setting a new date, but said that the permanent ban remains a priority.
Russia has begun "government-level talks" with Sri Lanka on possible oil supplies, state-owned Tass reported, citing Sri Lankan officials. Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said on 24 March that a planned visit by Russia's deputy energy minister could help advance negotiations, as Colombo seeks to secure crude supplies disrupted by the US-Israel war on Iran.
By YouLiang Chay