US President Donald Trump said that further strikes on Iran wouldn’t be necessary, but the US remains “locked and loaded,” Bloomberg reported on Monday. Trump added that there is "positive momentum" towards an end to the Iran war.
“Iran, militarily, is effectively over,” said Trump. “We’re just keeping it the status quo, and we’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbors,” he added.
Trump’s remarks indicated that he’s winding down the conflict after Republicans’ midterm election loss underscored its deep unpopularity.
US President stated that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and others prefer the status quo, the US naval blockade, and the new Iron Gate land effort.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, told Washington to stop publishing false reports about negotiations. Rezaei said it was time for Washington to accept the seven conditions Iran has repeatedly set out and that the war had done serious damage to the US government.
According to sources cited by Al Hadath, a new proposal put forward by Qatar and Pakistan would allow Iran to enrich uranium on its soil up to 3.67%, a limit Tehran has reportedly accepted. The proposal aims to revive diplomatic negotiations between Washington and Tehran. As part of the potential agreement, the United States has also offered to unfreeze between $6 billion and $9 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for reaching a deal.
WTI Oil FAQs
WTI Oil is a type of Crude Oil sold on international markets. The WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate, one of three major types including Brent and Dubai Crude. WTI is also referred to as “light” and “sweet” because of its relatively low gravity and sulfur content respectively. It is considered a high quality Oil that is easily refined. It is sourced in the United States and distributed via the Cushing hub, which is considered “The Pipeline Crossroads of the World”. It is a benchmark for the Oil market and WTI price is frequently quoted in the media.
Like all assets, supply and demand are the key drivers of WTI Oil price. As such, global growth can be a driver of increased demand and vice versa for weak global growth. Political instability, wars, and sanctions can disrupt supply and impact prices. The decisions of OPEC, a group of major Oil-producing countries, is another key driver of price. The value of the US Dollar influences the price of WTI Crude Oil, since Oil is predominantly traded in US Dollars, thus a weaker US Dollar can make Oil more affordable and vice versa.
The weekly Oil inventory reports published by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Energy Information Agency (EIA) impact the price of WTI Oil. Changes in inventories reflect fluctuating supply and demand. If the data shows a drop in inventories it can indicate increased demand, pushing up Oil price. Higher inventories can reflect increased supply, pushing down prices. API’s report is published every Tuesday and EIA’s the day after. Their results are usually similar, falling within 1% of each other 75% of the time. The EIA data is considered more reliable, since it is a government agency.
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is a group of 12 Oil-producing nations who collectively decide production quotas for member countries at twice-yearly meetings. Their decisions often impact WTI Oil prices. When OPEC decides to lower quotas, it can tighten supply, pushing up Oil prices. When OPEC increases production, it has the opposite effect. OPEC+ refers to an expanded group that includes ten extra non-OPEC members, the most notable of which is Russia.
Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.