CRUDE WRAP: WTI (Q6) SETTLES USD 0.92 LOWER AT USD 68.58/BBL; BRENT (U6) SETTLES USD 1.38 LOWER AT USD 71.57/BBL

The crude complex was lower on Wednesday, with little new information and no breakthrough coming from the US/Iran technical talks in Doha. Axios's Ravid recently reported that US and Iranian negotiators resumed talks in Doha, focusing on the management of the Strait of Hormuz and the terms of a 60-day MoU aimed at a comprehensive nuclear deal. Ravid added that while a temporary one-week de-escalation agreement is currently in place, US officials warned that the admin remains prepared to respond militarily to further Iranian aggression, noting that the President had previously requested briefings on military options. Further on that footing, source reports suggested that if talks fail, the option of US military action against Iran will be put back on the table, and there have also been recent discussions between the US and Israel on this issue. Despite seemingly no breakthrough in talks, Trump on Iran today said very good meetings and getting along very well, and denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well. Nonetheless, little movement was seen in benchmarks on these remarks, with oil seeing choppy trade, but ultimately grinding lower throughout the duration of the session. 

Away from the Middle East,  Reuters source reports said OPEC+ is likely to raise oil output quotas for August by 188k BPD at the Sunday meeting. In the weekly EIA data, crude saw a shallower draw than expected, while gasoline saw a surprise draw, and Distillates saw an unexpected build. Overall, crude production was down 9k bbl W/W. For the record, WTI traded between USD 68.03-70.19/bbl and Brent USD 71.07-73.53/bbl ahead of US payrolls on Thursday, brought forward a day on account of US Independence Day.