Trump's UN Offer Sends Oil Prices Plummeting Amid US-Iran Tensions
Oil prices plummeted to an 11-day low after US President Donald Trump said he would be willing to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN, shifting market sentiment from conflict to diplomacy.
The Brent crude price fell by 2.12% to $101.67 per barrel in early Monday trading, while WTI, the American benchmark, dropped by 2.24% to $98.05 per barrel, slipping below $100 for the first time in eleven days.
This move came as the UN General Assembly opened in New York with Pezeshkian in attendance. Trump said over the weekend that options for ending the war included destroying Iran militarily or allowing it to 'rot economically,' but also mentioned negotiating a deal, which was enough to prompt traders to shave off the war premium built up over weeks of tanker attacks and US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, stated that oil markets were shedding a war premium 'on hopes that a diplomatic path to de-escalate the US-Iran war may arrive this week.'