Oil prices fell about 4% on June 16, with Brent crude dropping below $80 a barrel for the first time since March 3, as markets reacted to a preliminary Iran deal and the possibility of restoring Strait of Hormuz supply.
Brent crude futures fell $3.20, or 3.85%, to $79.97 a barrel at 1253 GMT, according to Reuters. The contract touched $79.61 earlier in the session, its lowest level in more than three months.
US West Texas Intermediate crude declined $3.52, or 4.36%, to $77.23 a barrel, Reuters reported. WTI hit an intraday low of $76.88, its weakest level since March 10.
Oil prices had already dropped nearly 5% on June 15 after US President Donald Trump announced an interim deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Full details of the agreement have not yet been released.
Before the conflict began on February 28, Brent and WTI futures traded around $65 to $70 a barrel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on June 16 that Iran and the United States would begin a new round of talks in Switzerland on June 19 to seek a final agreement.
Read: Oil Prices Hold Losses as US-Iran Deal Lifts Stocks
“Near-term downside risks remain as the market prices a faster reopening of the Strait and a return of stranded barrels,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
Goldman Sachs lowered its fourth-quarter Brent forecast to $80 a barrel from $90 and cut its 2027 average estimate to $75 from $80, saying it assumed Gulf exports would return to pre-war levels by the end of July instead of late August.
