Oil Prices Plummet on Improved Strait of Hormuz Prospects
Oil prices dropped to a two-week low on Tuesday, as prospects for Gulf supplies improved. Iran signaled it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, and Saudi Arabia is set to resume exports from its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The Brent crude futures November contract fell $2.11, or 2.1%, to $98.23 a barrel at 1151 GMT. The WTI CLc1 October contract lost $2.48, or 2.59%, to $93.30 a barrel. The more actively traded November contract CLc2 was down $2.36, or 2.55%, at $90.01 a barrel.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, said this was a sign that diplomacy efforts could be working.