Oil Edges Lower Despite Breakdown In US-Iran Peace Talks

(RTTNews) - Oil prices were sharply lower on Wednesday despite uncertainty over the progress of U.S.-Iran peace negotiations.

Brent crude futures for September delivery fell 1.5 percent to $71.86 a barrel, while WTI crude futures for August delivery were down 1.5 percent at $68.43.

Both Brent and WTI contracts slumped more than 20 percent in June amid renewed diplomatic engagement between Washington and Tehran to end their conflict.

Investors remained focused on developments surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, with reports suggesting a recovery in oil tanker traffic since the U.S and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend.

Traders are taking an optimistic view on a supply recovery in the Middle East despite conflicting reports emerging regarding the status of U.S.-Iran talks.

American and Iranian officials are in Qatar, but Iran said it would not meet with top U.S. envoys. It appears the two sides are far apart on key pillars of the initial framework they signed two weeks ago.

Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Iran will not enter negotiations with the United States on a final agreement unless five preliminary paragraphs of a recently signed pace memorandum of understanding are fulfilled.

These include provisions for ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, lifting the U.S. naval blockade, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, issuing U.S. waivers for Iranian crude oil exports, and releasing frozen Iranian assets, according to Xinhua news agency.

He also claimed that Israel is desperately trying to destroy a new 14-point MoU between Tehran and Washington.

Elsewhere, Lebanon's power parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, vowed to block the ratification of a separate, controversial U.S.-mediated framework deal between Lebanon and Israel in parliament.

"Those who drafted this document will have to deal with me and a very large number of lawmakers", he warned, according to Press TV.