Oil prices inch up as peace talks between the US and Iran fail to materialize

• Oil prices crept up on Sunday as the US-Iran conflict nears two months.
• Trump said Saturday he won't send a delegation to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations.
• The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and the US Navy continues to blockade Iran's ports.

The price of oil inched upward on Sunday as a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran never materialized.

Brent crude oil futures rose nearly 2% to $101.07 a barrel when the markets opened at 6 p.m. in New York. West Texas Intermediate inched up by around 1% to reach $95.57 a barrel.

An end to the conflict, which has lasted nearly two months, remained uncertain this weekend. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Islamabad for negotiations during a press briefing on Friday.

However, an X post by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said no meeting was scheduled between the US and Iran.

Then, on Saturday, an Iranian delegation left Pakistan, and President Donald Trump said he would cancel Witkoff's and Kushner's trip. In the end, no new round of talks was held.

"I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

He added: "Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!"

Vice President JD Vance traveled to Pakistan on April 11 to negotiate with Iran, though those talks ultimately failed after 21 hours. On April 19, Trump said negotiations with Iran would resume that week, but hours later, Iran's official news agency said it would not participate.

Despite the failed talks, the US and Iran have so far held to a ceasefire. Trump said he extended the ceasefire in a Truth Social post on April 21.

As peace talks between the US and Iran remain elusive, the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway off Iran's coast through which a fifth of the globe's oil and liquefied natural gas passes — has remained closed. Iran initially closed the strait in late February following the US and Israel's attacks, but briefly reopened it in April as part of a ceasefire deal.

However, after the first round of failed peace talks in Islamabad, Trump announced the US would implement a naval blockade of Iran's ports. In response, Iran again closed the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure, compounded by damage to major oil hubs across the Middle East, has sent oil and jet fuel prices skyrocketing worldwide. The price of oil surpassed $100 for the first time in nearly four years in March, prompting some countries to adopt energy-saving measures to address rising costs. The Philippines, for example, implemented a four-day workweek for federal employees and began seeking out alternative sources of petroleum products.

In the US, the national average price for a gallon of gas climbed to $4 in late March.