Oil prices continued to fall: what’s behind the trend
18 June 12:34
Oil prices are falling on the morning of Thursday, June 18, amid news of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing “Interfax-Ukraine. “
As of 8:16 a.m., the price of August Brent futures on the London-based ICE Futures exchange has fallen by $1.79 (2.25%) to $77.76 per barrel. On Wednesday, the contract rose by $0.59 (0.75%) to $79.55 per barrel.
WTI crude oil futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) electronic trading platform have fallen by $1.99 (2.59%) to $74.80 per barrel. At the close of the previous session, the price of these contracts rose by $0.74 (0.97%) to $76.79 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump personally signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, he told reporters in France. According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, the president signed the document during a gala dinner in Versailles hosted byFrench President Emmanuel Macron. It had previously been expected that the document would be signed during a meeting between Iranian and U.S. representatives in Switzerland on Friday.
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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai confirmed that representatives from Iran and the U.S. had signed the final version of the memorandum, which is expected to bring the conflict to an end and allow for the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The text of the memorandum, as reported by various media outlets, calls for the immediate opening of the strait and the full resumption of shipping through it within 30 days.
“Oil prices have resumed their decline as markets continue to anticipate a rapid return of Iranian oil to the market following the signing of the memorandum with the U.S.,” noted IG analyst Tony Sycamore.
Meanwhile, it was reported yesterday that U.S. commercial oil inventories fell by 8.26 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected, on average, a decline of 4.6 million barrels.
Total oil inventories, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), fell to 758.5 million barrels—the lowest level since March 1985. Inventories at the Cushing terminal, where NYMEX-traded crude is stored, fell by 1.61 million barrels.
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