Meanwhile, the Iran/Oman Hormuz proposal would reportedly ban U.S. vessels from the strait: File Image/Pixabay.

Oil trading on Thursday broke a three-day losing streak as investors, who presumably maintained hope that an Iran/Oman proposal to control the Strait of Hormuz could be ratified, were less inclined  to put any further faith in the U.S. and Iran returning to the negotiating table – something that hawkish pundits have long held was a lost cause anyway.

The issue was raised by media to U.S. president Donald Trump, who replied that, "We don't want to ‌speak to them; we're not looking to meet or ⁠anything," and he reiterated his determination to punish Tehran economically with the “toughest sanctions in history.”

As a result, Brent settled up $1.86 at $89.70 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled up $1.30 at $83.53 per barrel.

Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova, said, "At the heart of the dispute remains Iran's nuclear programme and that is unlikely to be resolved quickly ... Iran also understands the importance of its geographical position and the leverage that the Strait of Hormuz provides, so the risk of prolonged uncertainty remains."

Meanwhile, mixed signals continued to be issued regarding the Strait, with the Iran/Oman proposal to reopen the waterway presumably containing a provision that U.S. military vessels would be banned from the region.

How this would be achieved was not disclosed, but CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins replied that "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz; the strait is an international waterway that commercial vessels continue to transit with U.S. military assistance."

Hawkins added that U.S. forces have helped nearly 1,500 vessels transit the strait since early May.

In other oil news on Thursday, Axios cited unnamed senior U.S. officials as stating that Washington is in active discussions with Venezuela’s interim government to acquire a direct U.S. ownership stake in key Venezuelan oil fields.

The talks reportedly involve equity stakes in a group of high-yield fields containing approximately 90 billion barrels of proven crude – a transaction that would significantly expand U.S.-controlled global reserves.