Oil prices retreat as U.S.-Iran nuclear talks go ahead

Oil prices retreated Thursday, handing back some of the recent gains after a sharp rise in U.S. stockpiles as more U.S.-Iran nuclear talks proceed.

At 07:55 ET (12:55 GMT), Brent Oil Futures expiring in April fell 1.4% to $69.73 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 1.9% to $64.17 per barrel.

Both contracts rose to their highest levels since late July 31 earlier in the week.

U.S.-Iran nuclear talks get under way

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are meeting Iranian officials in Geneva, as Washington pushes to reach an agreement over Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has signalled that a diplomatic resolution remains within reach if both sides commit to constructive engagement.

Additionally, Ali Shamkhani, a prominent adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has suggested that an agreement can be reached if the negotiations focused solely on Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.

“If the main issue of the negotiations is preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons, this would be in line with the supreme leader’s fatwa (religious edict) and Iran’s defence doctrine, and an immediate agreement is within reach,” he posted on X.

President Donald Trump has said that “bad things” could happen if meaningful progress is not achieved.

"A constructive resolution would likely prompt the market to gradually unwind as much as a $10/bbl risk premium, which we believe is currently priced in," ING analysts said in a note.

"If talks break down, the upside risk remains, but the market may hold off on a full reaction until the scale of potential US action against Iran becomes clearer," they wrote.

As one of the larger producers within OPEC, Iranian crude contributes materially to global supply, and any disruption -- particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, through which a substantial share of world oil trade transits -- would push oil higher.

"If we are to see deescalation between the U.S. and Iran, it should allow weaker fundamentals to feed through to a lower flat price -- particularly if OPEC+ resumes supply increases from April, which we believe they will agree to this weekend," ING analysts added.

U.S. crude stockpiles surge above expectations - EIA

On the supply side, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly data revealed an unexpected and large build in crude inventories.

Commercial crude stocks jumped by 16 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 20, far exceeding market expectations and marking the largest weekly increase in roughly three years.

At the same time, gasoline inventories fell by about 1 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose modestly by roughly 250,000 barrels. Refinery runs declined, adding to the headline inventory build.