West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed lower on Thursday, falling off session highs after U.S. President Trump canceled planned attacks on Iran and said talks may be resuming.
WTI oil for July delivery closed down US$2.32 to settle at US$87.71 per barrel, falling off a session high of US$93.64, while July Brent oil was last seen down US$2.86 to US$90.24.
In a social media post, Trump said he is canceling the attacks planned for Iran today, saying "Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening".
Trump added "Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others .
However Iranian media reported Iran has not yet approved any text for the agreement.
Trump has frequently promised a quick end the war that has shut in the Strait of Hormuz, blocking much of the one-fifth of daily oil demand supplied by Persian Gulf nations. Any deal to end the conflict would restore much of that supply, but not immediately as infrastructure is repaired and oilfields restarted.
The lack of supply is cutting into oil inventories, with the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reporting U.S. commercial oil inventories fell by 7.2-milllion barrels last week, well above the consensus estimate for a 4.0-million barrel drop among analysts polled by Reuters.