Global oil prices slid five per cent on optimism over negotiations aimed at reopening the key Strait of Hormuz and ending the Middle East war, AFP reports.

International benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, shed 5.0pc to $85.86 a barrel, on hopes of unblocking the waterway through which large amounts of the world’s oil and gas are shipped.

The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, lost 5.0pc to $83.32 a barrel