Oil Prices Plunge 5% After U.S. and Iran Halt Attacks
and Iran Halt Attacks Josh Owens is the Content Director at Oilprice.com and a veteran energy journalist with over a decade of experience covering global energy markets and geopolitics.… Oil prices plunged by more than 5% in early Asian trade on Monday as the U.S.
and Iran halted attacks after two weeks of escalation that had driven Brent above $100.
At the time of writing,WTI crudewas trading at $84.47, down 5.39%, whileBrent crudehad fallen to $91.80, a decline of 5.15%.
The retreat came after Washington signaled on Friday that it would temporarily halt its bombing campaign against Iran.
Talking to Face the Nation on Sunday, U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltzsaidthat the pause was "giving diplomacy some space" but added that additional military assets were moving into the region should diplomacy fail.
Iran has indicated that it will also suspend attacks, with foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaeisayingtalks with the Omani delegation on Friday and Saturday were “constructive” and that some progress had been made.
An Iranian official talking toReuterson condition of anonymity described Iran’s position as “attack for attack”, suggesting that it will halt operations for as long as the U.S.
For oil markets, the pause was enough to trigger an aggressive round of profit-taking after weeks of relentless buying, but any sustained downward pressure will require a significant ramp-up in tanker traffic.
Ultimately, until a long-term agreement is reached, tankers will still face the same operational risks that sent freight rates soaring over the past fortnight.
There are external factors that helped bring the latest round of attacks to an end, including the fact that the most recent U.S.
bombing campaign had largely exhausted its initial target list while consuming significant quantities of munitions and interceptors.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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