Oil slips as investors focus on Hormuz talks

Oil rises as investors weigh Hormuz talks By Georgina McCartney Wed, August 26, 2026 at 6:53 PM GMT+2 2 min read CL=F By Georgina McCartney HOUSTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose in a choppy session on Wednesday, as investors monitored talks between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz and a smaller-than-expected rise in ‌U. S. crude stocks.

Brent crude futures were up 48 cents, or 0. 54%, to $89. 06 a barrel at 12:37 ‌p.

m. EDT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 68 cents, or 0.

83%, at $83. 04. Both benchmarks fell to their lowest levels since August 10 earlier ​in the session on hopes of an increase in traffic through the strategic strait.

They pared some losses after official oil stock data showed U. S. crude inventories rose by less than expected last week.

[EIA/S] Crude inventories increased by 95,000 barrels to 428. 9 million barrels in the week ended August 21, the Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters ‌poll for a 597,000-barrel rise. IRAN AND OMAN ⁠WORK ON DETAIL Analysts said the talks between Iran and Oman had shifted the mood in the market.

"The market has moved from pricing a high probability of prolonged disruption and renewed ⁠escalation towards pricing partial reopening, negotiated shipping arrangements and a lower risk of renewed military confrontation," said Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen. "A credible agreement that rapidly restores Hormuz traffic could remove another layer of geopolitical premium. " Iran and Oman are ​working ​on the details of the agreement on the strait, a ​senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after Iran's ‌Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway and its revenues.

Until U. S. -Israeli airstrikes began a war on Iran at the end of February, the Strait of Hormuz was the route for around a fifth of global oil and gas supplies.

Only five commodity vessels transited the waterway on Tuesday, preliminary data from ship tracker Kpler showed, down from the 10-day average of 15 and well below pre-war levels. Efforts to reach a broader settlement to ‌the Iran conflict are also continuing. Pakistan and Iran made "significant progress" ​in talks, Pakistan's interior minister said on Tuesday at the end ​of a visit to Tehran.

Energy supply disruption linked ​to Russia's war on Ukraine, showed no sign of easing. Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest ‌gasoline producer NORSI suspended crude oil processing on Wednesday ​after a Ukrainian drone attack, ​three industry sources said. Russia is considering stepping up its ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, including targets in the city centre, and on critical infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine after concluding that efforts to negotiate a peace ​deal have reached a dead end, Bloomberg ‌News reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to the Kremlin.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartey in Houston, ​Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Enes Tunagur in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Siyi Liu in ​Singapore.