Oil prices dropped about 1% on Thursday, down for a third consecutive day, after Qatar said Iran and the \u200bUS had made progress in indirect talks focused on the Strait of \u200cHormuz, which handled one-fifth of global oil supply before the war. Brent futures lost \u206077 cents or 1.1% to $70.80 a barrel by 0256 GMT, while US \u200bWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 84 cents or 1.2% to $67.74 a barrel. Both benchmarks also \u200bfell more than 1% in the previous session, hitting their lowest levels in four months. The Doha talks produced “positive progress” on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June, a Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson \u200bsaid in a post on X. There was, however, no sign that the \u200btwo sides had made headway towards a lasting peace. As the strait stays open and crude oil flows out, there are growing expectations of oversupply and \u200bcompetition for market share is pushing prices down, Haitong Futures said in a \u200bnote. OPEC+ oil-producing countries will likely agree to a further hike in their output targets from August when \u200cthey \u2060meet on Sunday, sources said on Wednesday. UBS on Thursday cut its Brent forecasts citing the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the subsequent increase in oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. It cut its average Brent price forecast for the September quarter \u200bby $25 and for \u200bthe December quarter \u2060by $10. The bank now expects the benchmark to average $80 a barrel during the second half of the year and $75 in \u200b2027. “Despite this, we believe it is premature to assume a full \u200bnormalisation, & \u2060see price risk skewed to the upside noting that inbound tankers to the Persian Gulf have lagged outbound tankers,” UBS said. The next meeting between Iran and US negotiators will \u2060take \u200bplace after funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme \u200bLeader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 9, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry also said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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