Oil Holds Near $99 as US Reports Progress on Iran Pact; Hormuz Still Blocked

Oil prices steadied on May 27 after a nearly 4% jump on Tuesday, as the US signaled headway toward an Iran deal despite continued hostilities and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude traded around $99 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $93. US forces struck targets near the vital waterway, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired at multiple US aircraft. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that any pact would likely take a few days to finalize, with sticking points including $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets and Tehran’s reluctance to allow free passage. The strait, which handles a fifth of peacetime global oil and LNG flows, remains essentially shut under mutual blockades. On May 26, two non-Iranian supertankers carrying about 4 million barrels of unsanctioned crude exited the choke point, the first such crossing in a week. However, Westpac’s Robert Rennie said markets are “trading the prospect of an Iran deal, but this is months and possibly quarters from a clean reopening story,” adding that Brent dips will be shallow until Hormuz genuinely reopens. President Trump planned to convene his Cabinet at Camp David later May 27. Russia separately is weighing diesel export curbs, according to Interfax.