Oil prices slip on Tuesday 

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as traders weighed potential supply risks amid US guidance for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude fell 16 cents, or 0.23 per cent, to $68.88 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate dropped 20 cents, or 0.31 per cent, to $64.16.

The US Maritime Administration advised American commercial vessels to avoid Iran’s territorial waters and decline boarding requests from Iranian forces, highlighting the strait’s strategic importance, through which about a fifth of global oil passes. Iran and OPEC members Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq ship most of their crude via the waterway, primarily to Asia.

Despite recent Oman-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran showing a “cautiously positive tone,” analysts say uncertainty over escalation, sanctions, or supply disruptions has kept a modest risk premium on oil.

Meanwhile, the European Union proposed extending sanctions on Russian oil to ports in Georgia and Indonesia, aiming to tighten pressure on Moscow amid the Ukraine conflict. India’s Oil Corp also purchased six million barrels from West Africa and the Middle East, avoiding Russian crude as part of a US-India trade strategy.

Attribution: Reuters