Oil Prices Slip Ahead of US Treasury Press Conference on Iran Sanctions
Oil prices dipped on Monday as markets awaited a US Treasury press conference on Iran sanctions. Brent crude dropped 1.85% to below $93 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate slid 1.6% to $85.71 a barrel.
The decline came despite months of elevated prices driven by the ongoing US-Iran conflict, now in its sixth month. The war has disrupted crude and refined product flows out of the Arabian Gulf, keeping markets volatile even as prices eased on Monday.
Italy extended a tax cut on diesel fuel by a day, through Wednesday, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sought to shield consumers from fuel costs pushed higher by the war. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia was forced to reroute oil exports further as Yemen's Houthis threatened tankers using the Bab Al Mandeb strait.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's press conference on a plan to economically isolate Iran has traders positioning ahead of fresh US measures targeting Tehran.