Oil prices fall as U.S. strikes on Iran come to an end

Oil at the basic level

Crude oil prices (West Texas Intermediate) fell to around $91 per barrel on Thursday, retreating from gains made earlier in the session, after the U.S. military announced the end of its strikes on Iran, raising hopes for the resumption of peace negotiations.

The United States had earlier launched new attacks on Iran after President Donald Trump accused Tehran of delaying talks on an interim peace agreement.

There were reports that Iran responded by targeting U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz with missiles and drones.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also responded, stating that the U.S. military’s continued use of the territory and capabilities of countries in the region to attack us places those countries in the camp of the aggressors.

This latest escalation reinforced the view that the ceasefire reached in April has effectively collapsed, despite the fact that the large-scale bombing campaign seen at the start of the conflict has not resumed.

The near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz continued to constrain global energy supplies, although there were indications that limited quantities of oil were still flowing from the Arabian Gulf.

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration also showed a decline in U.S. crude oil inventories of 7.2 million barrels last week, extending the decline for the seventh consecutive week.

Oil from a Technical Perspective

We still expect oil to continue its decline, as mentioned in our latest analysis, from levels above $97 per barrel here

Crude oil continues to trade within the descending price channel on the four-hour chart after rebounding from the upper boundary of this channel, attempting to reach the lower boundary of the channel at $85 per barrel and then $80, with an initial target at $88 per barrel. Any corrective rally near $93 per barrel could create further selling opportunities for oil. This scenario would fail if the $95 level is broken by at least a 4-hour candle.