Brent Crude Rises 0.9% as Follow-up Talks Between U.S. and Iran Are Delayed

International oil prices rose on June 19 (local time) as follow-up negotiations between the United States and Iran, which were scheduled to be held in Switzerland, were delayed.

However, on a weekly basis, oil prices have fallen by nearly 10% due to the impact of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on ending the war signed between the U.S. and Iran.

On this day, the closing price of Brent crude futures for August delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange was $80.57 per barrel, up 0.9% from the previous trading session.

As Israel continued its airstrikes on Lebanon even after the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to end the war, the follow-up negotiations that were supposed to begin on this day faced setbacks from the start.

Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated on this day, "The Swiss talks scheduled for today (June 19) have been postponed to another day," adding, "Plans are currently being made to hold the negotiations within the next few days."

U.S. officials reported that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire.

The ceasefire went into effect at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on this day.

Despite the rebound on this day, Brent crude futures remained 8% lower compared to a week ago.

Expectations that shipping in the Strait of Hormuz would normalize following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran have significantly driven down international oil prices over the past week.

Energy market experts anticipate that more than 85 million barrels of crude oil, which had been tied up in the Gulf region, will be released into the international oil market.

The agreement between the U.S. and Iran also includes the easing of U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude oil during the follow-up negotiation period.

Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Price Futures Group, said, "While (oil prices) have not reached pre-war levels, they appear to be heading in that direction," and predicted that more crude oil supply would enter the market in the coming days.

He added, "The backlog of vessel traffic could be cleared faster than some anticipate."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.