Investing.com -- Crude futures inched down on Monday, as the head of the United Nations opened Yemen peace talks in Switzerland by urging sides to resolve the crisis by reaching a humanitarian ceasefire in the four-month long crisis.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for August delivery fell 0.41 or 0.69% to $60.00 a barrel. Texas Long Sweet futures traded in a tight range of 59.20 and 60.41 on the first day of trading this week. WTI crude futures have now declined on four straight sessions after surging more than 5% to near $62 a barrel in the middle of last week.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for August delivery fell 0.74 or 1.14% to 63.90 a barrel. Brent futures traded between 63.40 and 64.75 on a choppy day of trading. Brent prices have also declined for four consecutive sessions. The spread between the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude stood at $3.90, just above Friday's level of $3.88.
In Geneva, UN general secretary Ban Ki-Moon called for an immediate two-week ceasefire for Ramadan between Saudi Arabia and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Constant air bombardments from a Saudi-led coalition has resulted in the deaths of more than 2,600 people since fighting began in March. The UN has called Yemen's humanitarian crisis "catastrophic," asserting that approximately 80% of civilians in the war-torn nation are in need of emergency aid.
"We do not have a moment to lose," Ban said at a news conference on Monday. "I hope this week starts the beginning of the end of the fighting."
Yemen is strategically located on the Bab el-Mandab, a strait that connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea. In mid-November, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) ranked the Bab el-Mandab the fourth-largest chokepoint in the world for global oil transport (3.8 million barrels per day). The strait, which is only 18 miles wide at its narrowest point, separates Djibouti from Yemen at the tip of the Gulf of Aden.
A host of oil-rich producers including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar operate a pipeline that carries oil from the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal through Alexandria to the northernmost point of the Red Sea. Further south, the Saudi East-West pipeline transports oil across the country from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. A third pipeline, the Sudan oil pipeline, brings oil south into Africa through the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Energy traders are sensitive to any geopolitical risky news involving Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude.
Traders also await the expiration of June WTI options on Wednesday.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus six other major currencies, fell 0.08% to 95.17 paring earlier gains amid mixed economic data. A stronger dollar typically weighs on crude future prices.