Ammon News - Oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday as investors gauged the impact of a U.S.-Iran peace deal, ​while uncertainty over full resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz limited price declines.

Both benchmarks were ‌down about 0.2% by 0630 GMT, with Brent crude futures dipping 15 cents to $78.81 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate falling 12 cents to $75.93 a barrel.

On Tuesday both had fallen about 5% for a second straight session to hit three-month lows, fuelled by hopes that a ​U.S.-Iran deal would allow oil flows through the Strait.

Before the closure, ​about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flowed through the Strait.

China's crude oil throughput fell 9.1% in May on the year to its lowest in almost four years, data showed, also signalling that refiners were starting to draw on stockpiles amid the Iran war.

The American Petroleum Institute ⁠report showed ​U.S. crude stocks fell 8.3 million barrels in the week ended June 12, ​the sources said.

It exceeded expectations for a draw of 4.6 million barrels, with official numbers due from the Energy Information Administration at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 ​GMT) on Wednesday.


Reuters