Oil prices fell to an 11-day low — what contributed
Kyiv • UNN
Brent fell to $101.75, while WTI dropped to $98.34 per barrel. Investors are expecting diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran.
Oil prices fell on September 21 to their lowest level in 11 days, as investors hoped for diplomatic progress in the war with Iran thanks to this week's UN meeting and expected a partial resumption of supplies from Saudi Arabia. UNN reports, citing Reuters.
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Brent crude oil futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude reached their lowest level since September 10 on Monday. The November Brent contract was priced at $101.75 a barrel at 08:59 GMT (11:59 a.m. Kyiv time), down $2.12, or 2%.
The October WTI contract, which expires on Tuesday, fell $1.96, or 2%, to $98.34 a barrel. The November contract stood at $94.16.
Iran and the United States exchanged new threats on Sunday, although U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly.
"It appears that some of the risk premium is being removed from oil prices in the hope that a diplomatic path to de-escalating the war between the United States and Iran may emerge this week," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Iran has conveyed its conditions for resuming negotiations to mediators, Al Jazeera quoted Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei as saying in an interview on Saturday.
However, tensions in the Middle East remained high, as Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis said they had attacked "sensitive" sites in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, with missiles and drones on Saturday, as well as an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, a key oil export hub.
On Monday, a spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iran would use new weapons and attack places it had not previously attacked if the United States launched a new offensive against it, the Fars news agency reported.
China asked Iran to help restrain the Houthis after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing following the attacks, according to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
Houthi attacks on Saudi Aramco's "East-West" pipeline prompted the state energy company to increase exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next after some shipments through Yanbu were halted.
"Oil flows in the Middle East remain surprisingly strong despite disruptions to Saudi Arabia's "East-West" pipeline," JPMorgan analysts said in a September 18 note.
"The most notable shift came from Saudi Arabia," the analysts said, as satellite data indicated that the average volume of Saudi oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz over the past six days was 2.9 million barrels per day, compared with just 700,000 barrels per day in August.