Sharp drop in oil prices amid expectations of a US-Iranian nuclear agreement and increased inventories.

Oil prices witnessed a noticeable decline during trading on Thursday, May 15, with Brent crude futures dropping by 2.5% to $64.44 per barrel, while U.S. crude fell by 2.6% to $61.51 per barrel.

This decline comes amid expectations of a possible nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, which could increase global oil supply. In this regard, NBC News quoted an Iranian official as saying, "Tehran is ready to agree to a deal with America in exchange for lifting economic sanctions."

On the other hand, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed a sudden increase in crude inventories by 3.5 million barrels last week, reaching 441.8 million barrels, contrary to analysts' expectations of an anticipated decrease of 1.1 million barrels, according to a Reuters survey.

Saudi Arabia expressed its support for the nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran, with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud affirming on Wednesday, "The Kingdom's full support for the nuclear negotiations between America and Iran," expressing hope for "achieving positive results."

In a related context, the U.S. Treasury imposed new sanctions on Wednesday targeting Iranian efforts to domestically manufacture ballistic missile components, a day after imposing sanctions on a network of 20 companies accused of supplying Iranian oil to China.

Meanwhile, in its monthly report released yesterday, OPEC maintained its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2025 at 1.3 million barrels per day, while it anticipated demand growth in the OECD countries to be around 0.1 million barrels per day compared to the previous year.