Oil prices showed little movement on 10 Aug, Monday, after early gains faded, as progress on talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was clouded by continued demands from Iran, reported Reuters.
By 06:43 GMT Brent crude futures were largely flat at $83.54 per barrel, down by $0.1.
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Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped $0.15, or 0.2%, to $78.03 per barrel.
Both oil benchmarks fell by over 7% last week as expectations grew that Iran and Oman were nearing an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the conflict began, the waterway carried about one-fifth of global oil shipments.
However, Iran stated that negotiations with Oman were in the “final stages”, but made clear that any reopening of the Strait depended on the US meeting additional demands, including compensation for what Tehran described as widespread US attacks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that no talks were underway between Iran and the US, and that Tehran would not enter discussions as long as Washington remained in breach of the interim deal signed in June.
Elsewhere in the region, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it had attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday, reported Reuters.
The incident took place two days after Saudi Arabia entered a defence agreement with Turkey and Pakistan, aiming to reinforce collective security amid ongoing tensions stemming from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said the refinery fire was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported, though it did not disclose the cause of the incident.
In a separate development, the UAE’s ADNOC reported on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been attacked while passing through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict.
The Houthis also declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, a claim that Saudi officials have denied.
