WTI hovers around $80.00 as traders await developments on US-Iran peace talks

• WTI holds steady as traders await details of a looming US-Iran interim peace accord.

• Despite Trump's announced MoU to end conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the market remains deeply cautious.

• Iran's state oil company significantly slashed its July light crude official selling price for Asian buyers.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price inches higher after registering 3.7% losses in the previous day, trading around $80.10 per barrel during the Asian hours on Tuesday. Crude oil prices move little as traders adopt a wait-and-see approach ahead of a looming United States (US)-Iran interim peace accord.

US President Donald Trump announced that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed to end the conflict and reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, but the market remains deeply cautious. Neither Washington nor Tehran has released the official text of the agreement, prompting major shipping companies to delay routing their vessels through the strategic waterway until full transparency is established. According to Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency, the current draft calls for the strait to reopen within 30 days under Iranian arrangements.

Anticipating a return to the global market, the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company significantly slashed its official selling price for July light crude to Asian buyers. The premium was cut to $7.15 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, a steep drop from the previous month’s premium of $13 a barrel. This aggressive pricing strategy comes as the energy sector grapples with the fallout of a three-month blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint responsible for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. Millions of barrels of supply have been lost during the conflict, and analysts remain uncertain about how quickly production and shipping volumes can fully recover once the gates reopen.

Fresh data from the US Department of Energy highlighted just how tight global supplies have become. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) plunged by 8.9 million barrels last week, marking the third-steepest draw on record and sinking the government's emergency stash to 340.3 million barrels, its lowest level since 1983. These massive drawdowns are part of an ongoing U.S. agreement to loan 172 million barrels from the facility in an effort to cool down soaring domestic fuel prices, right as the geopolitical landscape prepares for a major shift.