Oil's slide halts as Brent returns to gains after closing below $80

Oil's downward run halted on Wednesday, 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405). In early trading, Brent crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.33 percent, to $79.62 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose 12 cents to $75.90. Brent had closed below $80 on Tuesday for the first time since 13 July, and by Wednesday afternoon it had returned to above $80.

According to Bourse News citing Reuters, investors are waiting to see whether efforts to end the war and resume traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will succeed. Qatar's Amiri Diwan said on Tuesday that the country's emir had spoken by telephone with the US president and that the two sides reviewed the latest efforts to reduce tensions between Tehran and Washington. Iran's foreign ministry had earlier rejected the US president's claim of a new round of Tehran-Washington negotiations, confirming only an exchange of messages through mediators.

Before the hostilities began, about 20 percent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transited the Strait of Hormuz. Market sources citing American Petroleum Institute data also said US crude inventories rose by about 2.7 million barrels in the week to 31 July; official figures from the US Energy Information Administration are due on Wednesday afternoon.