The price of a barrel of North Sea oil fell sharply on Wednesday. At 1 p.m. Danish time, it cost $98, which is a good ten percent less than a day ago.
The drop comes on the heels of a story from the media outlet Axios that may have given renewed hope for an end to the war in the Middle East. According to the media outlet, the White House believes that it is close to being able to conclude an agreement with Iran that will put an end to the conflict. The media outlet has quoted two unnamed officials.
Reuters has tried to get the story confirmed by the US State Department and the White House, but neither of them has returned the news agency's inquiry.
However, a Pakistani source who has been involved in the negotiations confirms to the news agency that the US and Iran are close to a statement. Pakistan has acted as a mediator between the two countries.
- We will close it very soon. We are close, the source says.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he would pause US escorts of ships from the Strait of Hormuz to explore the possibility of making a deal with Iran.
Big increases after closure of the Strait of Hormuz
The price of various forms of energy soared after the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on February 28. This happened because part of Iran's response was to close almost all ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The location of the strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman makes it an important trade hub. About 20 percent of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The price of oil has jumped and danced over the past two months, as various reports have come out from Iran and the United States.
Reports of a ceasefire have brought calm and caused the price to fall, but this has usually been followed by outbursts from the US President, Donald Trump, and this has several times had the opposite effect.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
