Crude Oil Prices Decline on Renewed US-Iran Negotiations
Oil prices declined on Monday as diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between the US and Iran tempered concerns over Middle Eastern supplies, although reports of further Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia kept supply risks in focus.
International benchmark Brent crude futures for December delivery fell 1.78% to $109.68 a barrel at 9.30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT), compared with the previous close of $111.70.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December delivery declined 2.2% to $101.02 a barrel, down from $103.23 at the previous close.
US President Donald Trump ruled out immediate military strikes against Iran on Sunday, saying Washington had no plans to launch attacks.
“Would I tell you that? But the answer is no. There will not be a strike,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a campaign rally in Michigan, when asked whether military action against Iran could take place as soon as Sunday.
“We have two very different sets of intelligence reports,” Trump said, describing incoming data as “very advanced.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, meanwhile, said Tehran remained open to negotiations, accusing Washington of seeking to impose its demands.
“Iran has never left the negotiating table. The problem lies in America’s insistence on its unilateral demands and its attempts to impose them,” Baqaei told German broadcaster ARD.
Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Baqaei said the waterway was “not safe,” holding the US and Israel responsible.
According to reports, Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Sunday to help ease regional tensions in coordination with the US.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group said it had targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the country’s East-West oil pipeline.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on X that the group had targeted the airport with a ballistic missile and launched drone attacks on crude oil pumping stations along the pipeline, also known as Petroline.
The pipeline carries crude from production and processing facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia to refineries and export terminals on the Red Sea coast, providing an alternative route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. Oil Rises as Iran-Backed Houthis, Saudi Arabia Tensions Escalate
