Oil prices fall as investors focus on Hormuz flows after peace talks

By Anushree Mukherjee and Seher Dareen

BENGALURU/LONDON June 23 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell connected Tuesday, extending losses from the erstwhile session, connected signs of immoderate advancement successful restoring crude flows done the ‌Strait of Hormuz pursuing U.S.-Iran bid talks.

Brent crude futures were down 43 cents, oregon astir 0.6%, ‌to $77.47 a tube and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 32 cents, oregon 0.4%, to $73.54 a tube astatine 1001 GMT.

Prices fell much than ​3% connected Monday aft the United States granted Iran a 60-day sanctions waiver pursuing archetypal bid talks, and arsenic officials reported a lull successful hostilities successful Lebanon nether a broader agreement.

Venezuelan, Russian and present Iranian crude is disposable to anyone looking to buy, said Ole Hvalbye, marketplace expert astatine SEB Research, highlighting that countries would beryllium looking to ‌stock up connected crude to replenish ⁠stores.

In the abbreviated term, the easing of sanctions wouldn't measurement connected prices much, helium added, arsenic the U.S.-Iranian memorandum of knowing was inactive caller and fragile.

On Monday, authorities information ⁠showed U.S. crude stocks successful the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 331.2 cardinal barrels past week, the lowest since June 1983.

Oil and liquefied earthy state tankers sailed done the Strait of Hormuz connected Monday, successful a motion of postulation dilatory ​picking ​up adjacent though Iran said it had again closed the ​waterway implicit the weekend, shipping information showed.

The satellite ‌has mislaid millions of barrels of lipid and state proviso since the warfare closed the strait, a chokepoint for astir a 5th of the world's lipid and LNG supplies, for much than 3 months.

"Ship owners and operators volition necessitate assurances that the threats posed by mines person been afloat eliminated. Damaged ports, debris successful the water, and congestion contiguous further obstacles to an unconditional ramp-up successful traffic," said Tamas Varga, an expert astatine PVM ‌Oil Associates.

The terms declines travel aft a play that had appeared ​to enactment the week-old accord successful jeopardy, including threats from U.S. ​President Donald Trump to restart the warfare ​if Iran disrupted shipping again.

Rabobank chopped its lipid terms forecasts, citing eased disruption risks successful ‌the Gulf, and present sees Brent astatine $79 a ​barrel successful the 3rd 4th ​and $78 successful the 4th quarter.

Iraq further accrued output from its confederate oilfields to astir 2.1 cardinal barrels per time arsenic much tankers enactment up to load crude from its Gulf export terminals, 2 ​Iraqi lipid officials told Reuters.

Separately, analysts ‌in a Reuters canvass expect U.S. crude inventories to person fallen past week, on with distillate ​and gasoline inventories.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Pranav Mathur successful Bengaluru and Trixie Yap successful Singapore. ​Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Shri Navaratnam and Mark Potter)