Oil prices fall to levels not seen since start of US-Israel war on Iran

Brent falls below $71 a barrel amid reports of progress in talks to end the war.Oil prices have fallen to levels not seen since the start of the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38678" data-entity-type="event">US-Israel war on Iran amid rising hopes for a breakthrough in negotiations aimed at sealing a permanent peace deal.Brent crude fell more than 1 percent on Thursday to below $71 a barrel, returning the international benchmark to pre-war prices.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4On the front line of Congo’s Ebola outbreaklist 2 of 4EU border rules causing travel chaos ahead of summer peak, industry warnslist 3 of 4Lawyer takes Trump to task over unchecked presidential powerslist 4 of 4German prosecutors charge Ukrainian suspect over Nord Stream explosionsend of listBrent futures for August delivery stood at $70.82 per barrel as of 04:30 GMT, lower than at any point since February 27.Following the latest drop, Brent prices are down more than 38 percent from their post-war peak of more than $126 a barrel on April 30.The slide came after Qatar, a key mediator between Washington and Tehran, said that US and Iranian officials had made “positive progress” in indirect talks aimed at resolving issues related to their memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war.US President Donald Trump also cast a positive light on the talks on Wednesday, saying the “denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well”.Vandana Hari, the founder of the Singapore-based oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights, said a steady uptick in oil flows out of the Gulf and “cautiously optimistic geopolitical sentiment” had driven prices lower.“Several key issues in the MoU remain unresolved, but the two sides appear to have backed off confrontation on the issue of the interim Hormuz transit regime, at least for the time being,” Hari told Al Jazeera.“I expect crude to continue grinding lower until the backlog of stranded barrels has cleared, and prices could even swing into oversold territory,” she said.