Oil slides about 2% as Qatari mediation raises hopes of easing U.S.-Iran hostilities
Brent fell toward $114.50 and WTI toward $101 after last week's surge to near six-month highs, even as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia continued over the weekend.
Oil prices fell about 2% on Monday as diplomacy cooled some of last week's war-driven rally. Brent crude traded down $2.21, or 1.9%, at $114.51 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate fell $2.23, or 2.2%, to $101.04, as of early Monday trading. Brent touched $117 a barrel last week, its highest in nearly six months, and finished the week up 6% after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked supply fears.
Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran in a push to de-escalate regional tensions, in coordination with the United States, an official briefed on the situation said. Analysts cautioned that the reprieve may prove temporary: President Trump has not ruled out further strikes on Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, and traders expect volatility to remain elevated with risks still skewed to the upside.
The attacks continued through the weekend. The Iran-backed Houthis said Saturday they had struck an airport and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia said Sunday it had intercepted more missiles and drones (see our story on Sunday's interceptions). The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28, continues to disrupt commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb strait (see Friday's oil story).
Separately, Saudi Aramco will start storing crude oil in Singapore from the second half of 2027, under an agreement announced Monday by the Saudi and Singaporean energy ministers, a move to shore up the resilience of its supply chain. The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, told an industry event in Singapore on Monday that he does not expect energy markets in 2027 to return to where they were before the war.
