-- EMEA crude futures were little changed in after-hours trading on Thursday as the market awaited Iran's response to the US peace proposal, which could ease tensions in the Middle East and restore disrupted crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures eased by 0.42% to $100.81 per barrel, while Murban oil futures were down 1.61% to $96.71/bbl.
"Brent crude extends its slide this morning and currently trades at $99/bl, down from yesterday's $108/bl open, and a fresh notch lower from the overnight $101-102 level," said Ole R. Hvalbye, commodities analyst at SEB Research.
Iran is reportedly set to send a response through Pakistan, the mediator in the US-Iran talks, in the next two days after Tehran said it was reviewing Washington's peace proposal to end the Middle East conflict. However, Iran hasn't indicated whether it will accept the terms.
The US presented Iran with a one-page memorandum of understanding that would allow for the gradual reopening of the Hormuz and the lifting of Washington's blockade on Iranian ports.
Meanwhile, the Hormuz has been largely closed since the outbreak of the conflict, and at present, the strategic waterway faces a double blockade, with Iran obstructing traffic, while the US Navy blocks vessels calling at or leaving Iranian ports.
On Wednesday, Trump said the US would lift its blockade "assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption," adding that "if they don't agree, the bombing starts."
"Iran is expected to respond in the coming days, with nuclear talks likely to follow later. The catch is that talks are not a deal, and oil has already rebounded this morning as investors reassess how firm the progress really is," Saxo Bank strategists said in a note Thursday.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Iraq's deputy oil minister on Thursday, accusing him of involvement in a scheme to help Iran sell its oil in violation of an international embargo by blending it with Iraqi crude.
Deputy Minister of Oil Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly authorized trucking several million dollars' worth of Iraqi oil a day to a smuggler who combined it with Iranian crude, Treasury said.
Maarij allegedly helped falsify documents, enabling the blended product to be smuggled to market disguised as purely Iraqi oil, the department added.
On the supply front, US crude inventories continue to tighten as global markets increasingly rely on US barrels to offset disrupted Middle Eastern supply. The US Energy Information Administration said that crude stockpiles decreased by 2.3 million barrels to 457.2 mmbbls.
EIA data showed US commercial crude inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, smaller than the 8.1 million-barrel draw reported by the API and slightly below market expectations of a 2.4 million-barrel decline, ING strategists said in a Thursday note.