Oil prices steady while peace talks begin in Doha

Tuesday’s trading brought only a small change in crude oil prices as the U.S. and Iran prepared for their continued peace talks in Doha in yet another attempt to bring a conclusion to the continued air strikes and drone attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices were headed for their biggest monthly and quarterly losses since 2020 when the country and the world were gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell only 23 cents or 0.3% to settle at $72.92 a barrel. Brent futures for August delivery ended Tuesday and will be replaced by the September contract which is trading around $73.31 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate dropped $1.25 or 1.8% and closed at $69.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Both Brent and WTI were close to their February 27 trading price the day before the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran. On that date, Brent finished at $72.48 a barrel and WTI finished at $67.02.

Natural gas prices finished Tuesday at $3.256 MMBtu with a gain of $0.075 or 2.36%.

Most Oklahoma energy stocks finished in the negative column on Tuesday, but a few had some strong gains. Mammoth Energy Services rose nearly 12%.