Oil fell to its lowest price in a week on Tuesday following an uneasy lull in the US-Iran conflict, though uncertainty over negotiations lingered and the US reported thwarting an attempted surprise missile attack from Iran.
While diplomats signaled progress in Oman-Iran talks to let more ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran proposed a temporary arrangement that would give it greater control over transit routes, and threatened to keep Hormuz closed if Muscat rejected the plan. The crisis has forced Saudi Arabia to tap alternative routes to ship crude, including the costlier Suez Canal detour, and a Bloomberg columnist suggested the kingdom could resort to previously “unthinkable” measures like using Israeli pipelines.
Doubts about US-Iran negotiations also grew, with Washington saying “good talks” were underway, while Tehran denied they were even taking place.
