Oil tanker traffic resumes in Hormuz

According to ship tracking data, two oil tankers with approximately two million barrels of oil they have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, sign of one resumption of traffic.Separately, two supertankers – which can carry a maximum of four million barrels of crude oil – sailed into the Gulf through the strait. One of them lists the Iraqi port of Basra as its destination, according to tracking data and analysis from Kpler.
Maritime traffic through Hormuz is still far below the daily average of 125 ships that passed before the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28.

Negotiations started yesterday between the teams led by US Vice President JD Vance and the Iranian representative Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf As part of a two-month negotiation period under a preliminary agreement reached last week, they served to reach agreement on a “roadmap to reaching a definitive agreement”, with technical talks continuing for the rest of the week in the Swiss town of Burgenstock.

The US suspends sanctions on Iran’s oil until August 21st

The United States has suspended sanctions on Iranian oil until August 21. This was announced by the US Treasury Department, which issued a 60-day general license authorizing the production, delivery and sale of crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin.
“In line with the fruitful ongoing discussions in Switzerland, Iran is committed to ensuring free transit through the Strait of Hormuz and to allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enter the country,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The ceasefire call

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed efforts to maintain the ceasefire and stop Israeli military escalation during a phone call with US Vice President JD Vance, the Lebanese presidency said. White House envoy Jared Kushner and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also participated in the phone call between Aoun and Vance, the Lebanese presidency added.

“Encouraging progress”

“They have been accomplished encouraging progressincluding the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks,” the mediators said, detailing a contact channel established to “avoid incidents and misunderstandings” in the Strait of Hormuz.
The creation of a “de-escalation cell” was also agreed between the parties and the Lebanese authorities to prevent a resurgence in fighting.

After a series of false starts, Washington and Tehran finally signed a deal last week memoranda d’intesa to end the conflict, which includes a clause to stop fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

However, repeated clashes have occurred in Lebanon since then, prompting Iran to announce the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The tireless mediation of Pakistan and Qatar has led to important progress in ending the war in Lebanon,” wrote Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on

The price of oil falls

There was no immediate reaction from US negotiators, but i oil prices fell while Asian stocks mostly gained ground, fueling optimism over the progress reported by brokers.