Oil prices fell on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said American and Iranian representatives had held “very good” talks at the United Nations.
International benchmark Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) both traded below the $100-a-barrel mark, which has been breached repeatedly since the conflict in the Middle East began in February.
Brent crude fell to $98.41 a barrel, while WTI dropped to $89.23 during afternoon trading in Asia.
Trump told reporters that the three-hour meeting was “very good” and “very productive”, adding that another meeting had been scheduled “in the very near future”.
His comments came just hours after he delivered a strongly worded address to the UN, saying he faced a “big decision” over whether to reach a deal with Iran or “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly.”
Nearly seven months after US and Israeli strikes triggered the war, Washington and Tehran remain at an impasse. Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Meanwhile, fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen has spread into the kingdom, putting further pressure on energy exports through the Red Sea.
“The three-hour US-Iran meeting matters because it shifts the market from pure escalation pricing toward a genuine diplomatic process, even if a final deal still looks distant,” said Stephen Innes of Quintex Intel.
Trump has pledged that oil prices would fall “as soon as” the United States wins the war.
The decline in crude prices came as Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, reportedly resumed operations along its East-West Pipeline, a key export route that was shut down following drone attacks.
The kingdom is targeting a resumption of exports later this week, Bloomberg reported, citing a source.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has reportedly told Asian refiners that they could soon collect crude from the Red Sea port of Yanbu. However, the company told European customers that they would not be allocated oil in October, according to Bloomberg.
Asian markets mixed as AI stocks gain attention
Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1 percent despite an announcement by Chinese technology giant Alibaba that it plans to expand its overseas data-centre operations.
Alibaba, one of the leading companies in China’s artificial intelligence sector, said the expansion would target markets across Europe and the Middle East.
Shanghai’s Composite Index closed 0.4 percent lower.
Alibaba’s announcement came amid renewed optimism around artificial intelligence, after Anthropic and OpenAI released new, cheaper AI models within hours of each other.
Anthropic’s launch comes weeks before its expected stock market debut, while OpenAI has reportedly pushed back plans for an initial public offering until next year.
South Korea’s technology-heavy Kospi rose 0.9 percent, while Taiwan’s Taiex index, home to chipmaking giant TSMC, gained 0.8 percent.
European markets also opened higher.
Investors are also turning their attention to Washington ahead of a summit on Thursday between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with trade between the world’s two largest economies expected to feature prominently.
The US-China trade dispute remains a key concern. Both countries have maintained a tariff truce for nearly a year but have yet to reach a lasting agreement.
“But the higher impact issue will be the war in the Middle East and any support the US can extract from China to use its leverage to sway the Iranians,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Key figures at around 0215 GMT
West Texas Intermediate: Down 1.4% at $89.23 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: Down 0.9% at $98.41 per barrel
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index: Down 1% at 24,842.87
Shanghai Composite: Down 0.4% at 3,936.52 at close
Tokyo Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
London FTSE 100: Up 0.3% at 10,744.98
Dollar/yen: Up at 157.76 from 157.37 on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: Down at $1.1425 from $1.1451
Pound/dollar: Down at $1.3314 from $1.3344
Euro/pound: Flat at 85.81 pence
AFP
