Oil prices fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced that the United States had held several hours of talks with Iran.
brent crude oil Futures, an international benchmark, fell 1% to close at $99.25 per barrel. west texas intermediate It fell 1.2% to settle at $94.59. Prices have fallen more than 4% this week, but are still up more than 9% for the month.
President Trump said the United States met for three hours with the Iranian delegation on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. “It was a very good meeting,” President Trump told reporters during a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations.
In a speech to the United Nations earlier Tuesday, President Trump said he faces a “big decision” about whether to seek a negotiated deal with Iran or “annihilate the Islamic Republic.”
In his speech, President Trump said, “I believe we will reach an agreement soon after the election because there is no point in not agreeing to it.” “They’re watching to see what I do in the midterm elections. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running.”
President Trump said the U.S. military recently convoyed more than 1 billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. More oil is flowing through the strait under U.S. military protection than at any time before the war, he said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the United Nations General Assembly. President Trump told Fox News on Sunday that he was open to meeting with Pezeshkian. So far, all attempts at a negotiated solution between the US and Iran have failed, leading to renewed fighting.
There were signs this week that the supply crunch in the Middle East was easing. Saudi Arabia is in the early stages of restarting a vital East-West pipeline, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. Riyadh aims to restore meaningful logistics by Saturday, one of the people told Bloomberg.
Officials told Reuters the pipeline was already pumping water at a slow rate and exports could resume at the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia closed the pipeline on September 10 after it was damaged in a drone attack launched from Iraq. The pipeline has played a key role in diverting Saudi oil exports to the Red Sea as the United States and Iran vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Riyadh reversed oil flow through Hormuz during the pipeline closure.
Ras Tanura, a port on Saudi Arabia’s east coast, had its busiest loading day since before the start of the war on February 28, according to maritime data firm Kpler. On Monday, six supertankers loaded nearly 12 million barrels in Ras Tanura and Juaymah, according to Kpler.
