Oil Holds Gains on US-Iran Uncertainty

Crude oil traded above $92 per barrel on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session as uncertainty continued to surround the progress of US–Iran negotiations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that Tehran would not yield to threats and stressed that the Islamic Republic would not relinquish its right to develop nuclear technology for economic advancement. He also warned that Iran would restrict freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as long as sanctions and what he called a US blockade remained in place.

In the US, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Trump administration was working with refiners on a voluntary cut in diesel exports as an alternative to imposing a formal ban on overseas shipments. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is moving to restart oil exports via its critical East–West pipeline. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that he and President Trump had discussed an “energy ceasefire.”