Oil prices extend decline as Middle East talks ease supply concerns

Oil prices fell more than $1 ​on Thursday, August 27, 2026, extending a streak of losses, on expectations that talks between Iran and Qatar might open the Strait ‌of Hormuz and reduce supply disruptions from the war in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were down $1.07, or 1.2%, to $86.77 a barrel at 0645 GMT, in line for a fourth day of declines, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.13, or 1.4%, to $81.10, in line for a fifth day of losses.

Iranian sources told Reuters on Wednesday Iran and Oman have been working ​on finalising details of an agreement to control the Strait of Hormuz.

This comes after ​Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway that connects major Gulf ⁠oil producers to markets and its revenues.

The strait carried oil and LNG shipments equal to about a fifth of global consumption of ​the fuels before the United States-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.

Since Iran worked to shut the waterway in response, oil flows have ​dropped to about one-quarter of their pre-war level, according to ship-tracking data.

“Crude oil edged lower as the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening improved amid ongoing talks,” the senior commodity strategist at ANZ, Daniel Hynes, said in a statement on Thursday.

Hynes, however, cautioned “concerns over shortages in the oil market persist.”

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Qatar’s prime minister will ​head to Iran on Thursday to relaunch diplomatic talks to end the conflict which is nearly six months old.

The U.S. has halted ​its attacks on Iran for about a month and is seeking to impose greater economic pressure on Iran, which has raised investors’ expectations for an easing ‌of the ⁠Gulf supply disruptions.

Still, the countries are far apart on their demands to end the fighting and Iran has struck shipping in the Gulf and strait to impose its control on the waterway.

Iranian officials have also said the strait would not open unless the U.S. met under an interim ceasefire agreement that was struck in June and later unraveled.