Brent Crude Falls Below $101 Amid Hopes for Iran Talks

Oil prices declined on Monday, reaching their lowest point in 12 days, as investors looked for possible diplomatic developments in the Iran conflict ahead of the United Nations meeting and noted some recovery in Saudi oil shipments.

The November contract for Brent crude futures closed at $100.34 per barrel, a decrease of $3.53 or 3.4 percent. The expiring October contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by $4.52, or 4.51 percent, to $95.78 a barrel. The November WTI contract stood at $92.47. Both indices touched their lowest levels since September 9.

Over the weekend, tensions remained between Iran and the United States, with both countries exchanging new threats. However, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated he might meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, stated that investors are hopeful for progress in peace talks during the week. Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho, commented that while a breakthrough recently seemed unlikely, the situation now appears to be moving positively.

Reports from Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei, mentioned that Iran has outlined conditions to mediators for renewing negotiations with the United States.

Meanwhile, hostilities in the Middle East continued. Yemen’s Houthis claimed attacks on Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu, as well as efforts to disrupt Saudi-backed territories along the Red Sea coast. In response to these incidents, China was asked by Saudi Arabia to urge Iran to restrain the Houthis, according to Iranian sources. Disruptions to Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline have led to an increase in exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and the next, after some shipments through Yanbu were suspended.

Expectations that Saudi oil shipments will partially recover also contributed to lower prices. Tanker tracking data showed that Saudi Aramco loaded around 14 million barrels of crude onto seven supertankers in the Mideast Gulf on Sunday. Satellite data indicated that Saudi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day over the past six days, up from 700,000 barrels per day in August. Separately, Libya’s National Oil Corporation Chairman Massoud Suleman informed Reuters that production has partially declined at the Sharara oilfield, without stating a reason.