Oil prices rise despite Iran’s proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Brent crude rises 3 percent despite Iran’s offer to reopen waterway in exchange for deferral of nuclear talks.Oil prices are continuing to climb despite Iran’s proposal to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for deferring nuclear negotiations with the United States.Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 3 percent on Tuesday as Tehran’s offer failed to assuage traders’ concerns about the blockade of the waterway critical for global fuel supplies.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Death toll after train crash near Indonesia’s Jakarta rises to 14list 2 of 4What’s driving the coordinated attacks across Mali?list 3 of 414 killed in South Sudan plane crash near capital Jubalist 4 of 4Italy extradites Chinese cyber-espionage suspect to USend of listBrent stood at $111.49 per barrel as of 07:30 GMT, up 13 percent from Tuesday last week, the last time the benchmark settled below $100.The latest rise came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shared proposals to reopen the strait with interlocutor Pakistan amid stalled peace negotiations between Washington and Tehran.The US has not commented publicly on the Iranian proposal, which would set aside the thorny issue of Iran’s nuclear programme to a later date.Iran’s threats against commercial shipping have reduced maritime traffic in the strait to a trickle over the past two months, paralysing a significant portion of the world’s oil and natural supplies.Only eight vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, down from 19 transits the previous day, according to ship tracking data monitored by maritime intelligence platform Windward.Before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, an average of 129 vessels passed the strait each day, according to the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD).The blockade and attacks on regional energy infrastructure have reduced global oil production by 14.5 million barrels per day, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate.