By: Economy Middle east

Oil prices turned lower on Wednesday after rising about $1 at the start of Asian trading, as investors assessed the outlook for U.S.-Iran peace talks following the extension of the ceasefire.

Brent crude fell 21 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $98.27 a barrel at 00:39 GMT, after touching $99.38 earlier in the session. West Texas Intermediate dropped 17 cents, or 0.19 percent, to $89.50, after climbing to $90.71.

Both benchmarks had risen about 3 percent on Tuesday. The move came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow negotiations to continue, while also keeping the U.S. Navy blockade of Iran’s ports and shoreline in place.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about 20 percent of global oil and LNG supplies, remained broadly halted on Tuesday, with only three ships passing through in the previous 24 hours.

In Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Druzhba oil pipeline is ready to resume operations, although industry sources said Russia is set to stop exports from Kazakhstan to Germany through the pipeline starting May 1.

Later on Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release inventory data. Market sources cited American Petroleum Institute figures showing U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels last week, while gasoline and distillate stocks also declined. Analysts expect a 1.2 million-barrel draw for the week ended April 17.