Oil prices experienced a dramatic decline of more than 5% following developments in US-Iran diplomatic talks. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $95.10 per barrel at 09:08 a.m. local time, down around 5.1% from the previous close of $100.21. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased about 5.6% to $91.20 per barrel, compared with $96.60 in the previous session. The decline was driven by statements signaling progress in talks between Washington and Tehran, with US President Donald Trump saying negotiations with Iran are "orderly and constructive" while stressing that the naval blockade would remain in place until a final agreement is reached.
Summer forecasts are pointing to higher-than-normal temperatures across Asia, with an El Niño weather pattern expected to emerge from June to August and strengthen in subsequent months. According to reports from NDTV Profit, meteorologists expect El Niño to bring hotter weather, though uncertainty remains over how intense it will be. The average temperature in Japan is expected to be around 1.5°C (2.7°F) above normal, while South Korea and much of China will see smaller anomalies of 0.5°C to 1°C above average. From June through August, southern and southwestern China has a high chance of temperatures in the top 20% of historical records, as reported by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures Thursday of around 45 degrees Celsius in the capital, Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary "cooling zones" to help people cope with the extreme heat.
The conflict in the Middle East has choked a fifth of global LNG supply for nearly three months, creating significant market disruption. As reported by NDTV Profit, Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at MST Marquee, noted that LNG prices could rise a further 50% through August if the Strait remains largely closed. LNG flows have already begun shifting toward Asia, where buyers are willing to pay higher prices, reversing a period when Europe absorbed vast amounts of global supply. LNG deliveries to Europe are down more than 10% from a year ago, according to ship-tracking data, with some US shipments to Europe recently diverting to Asia in the last two weeks. The Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has more than doubled diesel prices in Southeast Asian nations, forcing motorists across the Asia-Pacific region to switch to electric vehicles at a rapid pace as rising fuel costs force consumers and companies to reconsider their reliance on petrol and diesel vehicles.
Chinese LNG imports, which slumped in the months after the war began, are recovering as utilities refill storage and replace lost Qatari supply. According to reports from NDTV Profit, the 30-day moving average of deliveries to China are down less than 10% compared with last year's levels, an improvement from minus 30% in late-March. Maggie Xueting Lin, an energy research strategist at Citigroup Inc., noted that China's demand is likely to increase in the coming months following seasonality, though industrial demand remains weak due to a sluggish real estate sector. The Chinese government has kept the tariffs on US LNG imports for now, as reported by NDTV Profit.
Japan, the world's second-largest LNG buyer, is facing a blistering summer according to local forecasts, which could force increased purchases of power-plant fuel. As reported by NDTV Profit, the nation's spot electricity prices have jumped over the last few months and are near the highest level since 2022. Some traders suggest that Japanese buying, which has increased in previous El Niño years, could move the needle even more than China. The country's power grid faces significant strain as temperatures rise and energy demand increases.
