Ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. file | Photo courtesy: Reuters
Benchmark Brent crude futures (August) slipped to a more than three-month low on Monday (June 15, 2026) in view of a possible peace deal between Iran and the United States, ending more than 100 days of hostilities in the Middle East that led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures (August) fell by about 5.47%, or about $4.77, to $82.56 a barrel in trading on Monday (June 15, 2026).
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also slipped about 6.1% to $ 79.71 per barrel on Monday (June 15, 2026).
Unrelatedly, addressing reporters at a bi-weekly briefing on the situation in West Asia, Union Petroleum Ministry Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma pointed out that state-owned oil-marketing companies’ under-recoveries on petrol and diesel have also reduced to ₹3 per liter and ₹27 per liter respectively.
However, OMCs continue to under-recover about ₹700 per cylinder on LPG cylinders for domestic consumption.
Senior officials of the Union Petroleum Ministry had said that the under-recovery on June 8 was ₹30 per liter on diesel and ₹6 per liter on petrol.
Thus, both have declined by about ₹3 per litre.
It will take time to get back to normal
Despite a possible peace agreement, analysts believe it may take time for prices to fully normalize.
According to Prashant Vashishtha, senior vice president and co-group head of corporate ratings at ICRA, “Apart from immediate price action, it may take six months to a year for crude oil prices to normalize to pre-war levels, as around 10-11 million barrels per day of production in West Asia has been shut down, besides damage to some facilities.”
At the time of writing, Brent crude futures (August) were down 4.92% to trade at $83.03 a barrel. WTI was down 5.49% at $80.27 a barrel.
Reflecting on the peace deal, Mr Vashisht said if sanctions on Iranian crude were potentially lifted, it would be positive for India given its geographical proximity and Tehran’s historical willingness to give long payment timelines.
In an announcement last midnight (IST), US President Donald Trump had announced that the peace deal with Iran was “complete”.
“The agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” he wrote on his social media, adding, “I fully authorize the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and with this, authorize the immediate lifting of the joint naval blockade. Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
The deal is scheduled to be signed in Geneva this Friday (June 19, 2026).
published – June 15, 2026 09:02 am IST