NEW YORK: Oil prices climbed about 3 percent on Wednesday on a report that the US would not agree to change the location and format of talks with Iran planned for Friday.
Brent futures rose USD2.06, or 3.06 percent, to USD69.39 a barrel at 1:09 p.m. EST (1809 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose USD1.93, or 3.05 percent, to USD65.14. The US has decided to reject Iran’s request to change the location of talks planned for Friday, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing two US officials.
Tehran is “fully ready to hold talks with US only on nuclear issue,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday. Both crude benchmarks have seesawed this week between news of talks to de-escalate tensions between the US and Iran and heightened fears of potential disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Oil would be lower without Middle Eastern sabre-rattling,” PVM analysts said in a note. The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said. Separately, a group of Iranian gunboats approached a US-flagged tanker north of Oman, maritime sources and a security consultancy said. The US and Iran were due to hold talks in Oman on Friday, according to a regional official.