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US Oil Update: Futures Ease as Iran-Oman Hormuz Deal Tempers Supply Fears

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Crude futures settled lower in after-hours trading on Wednesday after Iran and Oman agreed on a deal to resume shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears of a prolonged supply disruption from the Middle East.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude eased by 0.6% to $81.91 per barrel, while Brent futures retreated 1.3% to $87.46/bbl.

US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 100,000 barrels to 428.9 mmbbls in the week ended Aug. 21, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report released Wednesday.

Crude inventories are 1% above the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

The build is below Investing.com's estimate of a 1.6-mmbbl increase for the week ended Aug. 21.

Gelber & Associates said that US crude inventory figures are being offset by Iran-Oman talks to reopen a temporary route through the Strait of Hormuz, which have taken some urgency out of the geopolitical risk premium.

Iran and Oman on Wednesday agreed to a phased framework to facilitate the resumption of safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, according to local media reports.

The framework includes establishing a joint temporary navigational corridor, a joint mine-clearance project, and further technical talks on a permanent navigation route and the future administration of the strategic waterway.

"I am hopeful we will soon announce a temporary corridor for the Strait of Hormuz and practical arrangements to restore safe navigation," Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a social media post on X on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, President Trump repeated claims that the water mines in the Hormuz had been removed or detonated and the key energy chokepoint is open. Trump said the US Navy is taking a lot of ships through the strait, adding that some 10 million barrels transited the strategic waterway yesterday.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman General Hossein Mohebbi said that Iran and Oman have reached an agreement on the Hormuz, which remains under Iran's control, Press TV reported Wednesday.

Mohebbi said Iran could reopen the Strait if the US ends its interference and returns to the memorandum of understanding reached with Oman.

The situation in the Hormuz, which previously handled about 20% of the world's oil, remains complex.

Commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait dropped on Tuesday, according to the latest data from MarineTraffic, underscoring continued caution among operators navigating the Middle East's key energy chokepoints.

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