By: AGBI

Oil prices slipped in early trading on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) trimmed its 2026 forecast for global oil demand growth, while uncertainty persisted over efforts to revive a peace deal between the US and Iran.

Brent futures fell 1.2 percent to $87.69 a barrel by 02:30 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 1.3 percent to $81.97.

Both benchmarks have gained up to 5 percent over the past five days and are up more than 40 percent this year.

In its monthly oil market report released on Wednesday, Opec said it expected global oil demand to rise year on year by 0.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026, down from its June forecast.

In a social media post on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the US maintains total control over the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think we will keep it! Our Naval Blockade is being called by everyone a wall of steel. Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

On Tuesday, Iran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei said the strait would remain closed unless the US accepted Tehran’s conditions to end the war, including releasing frozen assets.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, citing Pakistani government sources, reported on Wednesday that Tehran and Washington had agreed to extend a 60-day ceasefire under their interim peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June.

However, an unidentified Iranian source told Reuters there had been “absolutely no progress on the US-Iran interim peace deal”.

US Central Command said in a post on Thursday that it had redirected 59 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two as of August 12 to ensure full compliance with the blockade.

Yemeni Houthis continued to attack vessels in the Red Sea, with the Egyptian-owned Tihamah cargo ship the latest target. The Houthis issued their blockade against Saudi-linked craft last month.

Shipping companies are likely to be more reluctant to sail through the Red Sea after six people were killed in a Houthi missile attack, analysts told AGBI.