Oil set for steepest quarterly loss since 2020 as traders focus on US-Iran talks
Sunset clouds glow over pump jacks at the Airankol oil field operated by Caspiy Neft in the Atyrau region, Kazakhstan, April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev
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June 30 : Oil prices slipped on Tuesday, and were set for their biggest quarterly loss since the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, with investors eyeing potential U.S.-Iran talks in Doha amid a strained interim ceasefire in the four-month-old war.
Brent August crude futures, which expire on Tuesday, were down 0.41 per cent, or 30 cents, at $72.85 a barrel as of 0824 GMT. The contract was on track for a third straight monthly decline and was down about 21 per cent so far in June. The more actively traded September contract was down 0.1 per cent, or 7 cents, at $73.84 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate for August fell 0.2 per cent, or 13 cents, to $70.62 a barrel. The contract was down for the second straight month, by about 20 per cent so far in June.
Both Brent and WTI prices are close to pre-war levels.
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“The recent de-escalation between the United States and Iran is undoubtedly a positive development for global financial markets, but it should not be interpreted as the end of uncertainty surrounding the energy sector,” Rania Gule, senior market analyst at XS.com, said.
Iranian and U.S. negotiating teams were due in Doha this week, but Iran said on Monday no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the war.
Iranian and Omani experts will start talks on redefining transit paths through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV on Monday, adding that his country will try to obstruct vessels outside defined paths.
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said there will not be any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days.
The uncertainty over whether the two sides would meet highlighted the fragility of a June 17 agreement to pause fighting that has disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and posed a political challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
Morgan Stanley cut its 2027 Dated Brent forecast by $5 a barrel, to $75 a barrel in the first half of the year and $70 a barrel in the second half, citing expectations of a build-up in OECD commercial oil inventories.
Morgan Stanley said it now models an implied global oil market surplus of 4.8 million barrels per day in 2027.
Middle East producers are pushing ahead with loading oil and LNG despite fresh ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed strikes between the U.S. and Iran in recent days, shipping data showed.
Traffic last week hit its highest level since the conflict began at the end of February.
Source: Reuters
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