CRUDE WRAP: WTI (M6) SETTLES USD 2.32 LOWER AT USD 81.71/BBL; BRENT (Q6) SETTLES USD 2.72 LOWER AT USD 90.38/BBL

Crude reversed early gains and tumbled on Thursday as US President Trump touted an agreed-upon deal with Iran while simultaneously cancelling the planned strikes on Iran, which he only announced this morning. Regarding a deal, Trump said in his post that "discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved" while noting "Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved", alluding to a deal. However, we are yet to hear confirmation from Iranian officials but Israeli press has been pushing back on the deal claims, while Iran's Fars News has also pushed back on an agreed upon deal. Nonetheless, sources told Axios that key gaps were resolved during talks between Iranian officials and Qatari mediators, and the Qataris and the Iranians believed on Wednesday that they had reached an agreed-upon text that the US would also accept. This resulted in notable downside in crude prices while equities rallied and the dollar tumbled. Ahead of this, oil prices were trading with gains after Trump said the US will be hitting Iran very hard tonight, and the US "will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points " in the not-too-distant future. Elsewhere, in remarks to Fox News in wake of the Truth post, Trump said US is talking to Iran, his preference would be to take Kharg Island, but not sure US has the appetite for it, and he doesn’t want boots on the ground. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the UAE and Iran reportedly met face-to-face to ease tensions. 

Away from the Middle East, the OPEC MOMR for May, stated global oil demand forecast to grow by 1.0mln BPD Y/Y in 2026 (prev. 1.2mln BPD in last assessment) and 1.7mln BPD Y/Y in 2027 (prev. 1.5mln BPD). For the record, WTI traded between USD 86.54-93.64/bbl and Brent USD 89.46-95.50/bbl.