<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oil prices tumbled sharply on Thursday as traders reacted to fresh signals that a nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran could be imminent\u2014raising the potential for a substantial boost in global crude supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Brent crude futures fell 3.1% to $64.06 per barrel<\/strong>, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 3.3% to $61.06 per barrel<\/strong>. The losses build on Wednesday\u2019s decline, which ended a four-day rally and pulled prices away from recent two-week highs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market sentiment was jolted after U.S. President Donald Trump<\/strong> said Thursday that Washington was \u201cvery close\u201d to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran<\/strong>, and that Tehran had \u201csort of\u201d agreed to the terms. While no formal agreement has been signed, the comments marked a significant softening in rhetoric and fueled speculation that sanctions relief could soon allow more Iranian oil to enter the global market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ongoing negotiations between Iranian and U.S. officials concluded on Sunday, with plans to resume talks. Though both parties have been divided on key issues\u2014particularly Iran\u2019s uranium enrichment activities\u2014Trump\u2019s remarks suggest a possible breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If finalized, the deal could unlock Iranian crude exports<\/strong>, which have been heavily curtailed since U.S. sanctions were reinstated in 2018. Prior to sanctions, Iran produced around 3.8 million barrels per day<\/strong>, compared to the estimated 1.6 million bpd<\/strong> currently being exported under sanctions through indirect channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Iranian oil comeback would shift the delicate supply-demand balance in global markets, especially at a time when inventories are unexpectedly building and demand forecasts are softening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)<\/strong> reported on Wednesday that commercial crude stocks rose by 3.5 million barrels<\/strong> last week, bringing total inventories to 441.8 million barrels<\/strong>. Analysts had anticipated a drawdown of 2 million barrels<\/strong>. Industry data from the American Petroleum Institute (API)<\/strong> earlier this week similarly showed a 4.3 million-barrel build<\/strong>, compounding bearish sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further pressuring oil prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA)<\/strong> slashed its global oil demand growth forecast<\/strong> for the remainder of 2025 to 650,000 barrels per day<\/strong>, down from the 990,000 bpd<\/strong> seen in the first quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IEA attributed the slowdown to economic headwinds<\/strong> and an acceleration in electric vehicle (EV) adoption<\/strong>, particularly in China and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This comes as OPEC+<\/strong> producers continue to gradually raise output in line with previous agreements. While the cartel has shown restraint in 2024 and early 2025, a return of Iranian barrels could put pressure on Saudi Arabia and Russia<\/strong> to reassess their supply strategies in order to defend market share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil prices tumbled sharply on Thursday as traders reacted to fresh signals that a nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran could be imminent\u2014raising the potential for a substantial boost in global crude supply. As of 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Brent crude futures fell 3.1% to $64.06 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":109774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114542,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114541\/revisions\/114542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Trump: U.S.-Iran Nuclear Deal \u201cVery Close\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Supply Concerns Mount<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
IEA Cuts Global Demand Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
OPEC+ Production and Market Impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n