Oil prices held steady on Thursday amid simmering tensions between the United States and Iran.
WTI crude futures were little changed at $64.65 after rising over 1 percent in the previous session on heightened Middle East tensions. Benchmark Brent crude futures slid 0.1 percent to $69.35 a barrel.
As U.S.-Iran talks stall and Israel demands missile restrictions, tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.
Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has accused Israel of attempting to sabotage negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program, so it can ignite a new war that would destabilize the region.
“Our negotiations are exclusively with the United States – we are not engaged in any talks with Israel,” he said.
He said Israel’s strategy was “to destabilize the region”, and that its agenda “extends beyond its alleged concerns about Iran”.
Separately, the Financial Times quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as saying that the U.S. and Iran seemed willing to make concessions in order to reach a nuclear agreement.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has lowered its forecast for 2026 global oil demand growth in its latest monthly oil market report.
Citing the impact of higher prices on consumption, the agency said it expects a surplus of 3.73 million barrels per day in 2026, compared with 3.69 million bpd surplus projected in last month’s report.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday forecast world oil demand for crude from the wider OPEC+ producer group will drop by 400,000 barrels per day in ?the second quarter of this year.
Market Analysis
Oil Holds Steady Amid Iran Tensions
2026-02-12 09:39:41
