Brent crude fell below $90 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since late August, extending a slide that traders and analysts tied to signs the conflict with Iran is winding down. Brent futures traded at $89.65 at 9:05 a.m. Eastern time, down $2.92, or 3.2%, from Monday’s settlement of $92.57. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.67, down $2.18, or 2.5%.
On Monday, Brent fell $5.75, or 5.85%, and WTI fell $3.98, or 4.38%, after President Trump met Qatar’s prime minister at the White House. “Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump told reporters, adding that he saw “momentum toward the end of this conflict.” He called new strikes “quite unlikely,” but said the United States was “locked and loaded” if it had to go back in.
Iranian officials denied that talks were planned. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied a planned meeting in Qatar, and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused Washington of “manufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks.”
“The market has continued to unwind some of the geopolitical risk premium built into prices in recent weeks,” analysts at ING wrote on Tuesday, adding that signs of recovering regional oil flows had added to the pressure.
Supply has also risen. OPEC’s output climbed 1.38 million barrels a day in October to 22.87 million barrels a day, led by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, according to a Reuters survey.
Brent’s expiring December contract settled at $117.64 on Oct. 30, its highest settlement since the end of April, while the January contract, now the benchmark, settled at $113.43.
