An oil tanker at sea (file photo). Photo: ImagePerson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Oil prices fell about 3% on Wednesday, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate trading near $93 a barrel and international benchmark Brent near $100, as traders weighed U.S.-Iran talks and signs that Middle East crude exports were recovering, Trading Economics reported.
Prices
- WTI: about $93.10 a barrel, down $2.99, or 3.1%, according to Trading Economics. Bloomberg put WTI at $93.77, down 2.4%, earlier in the morning, Swissinfo reported.
- Brent: about $100.27 a barrel, down 3.2% on the day and roughly flat over the past month, according to Trading Economics.
WTI had already fallen more than 7% this week as of Tuesday, though it remained up about 4% over the past month and about 56% from a year ago, Trading Economics said.
Why prices are falling
Traders were watching U.S.-Iran negotiations mediated by Qatar, in which both sides are reviewing new proposals, Trading Economics reported. Iran’s top security official called Washington’s response unsatisfactory, while hopes for a diplomatic deal and recovering Middle East exports weighed on prices.
The risk of new fighting has not gone away. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. may still carry out a major strike, as our latest Iran war report details, and the Strait of Hormuz has been closed since early in the war. Follow shipping and prices on our Iran War Tracker.
The election angle
Traders are also watching how U.S. policy toward Iran could change now that Democrats will control both chambers of Congress, Trading Economics said. House Democrats have named ending the Iran war as a goal; our analysis of what a Democratic Congress means for foreign policy explains the limits. Gold, meanwhile, jumped almost 3%, as our bond and currency report notes.
Prices move throughout the trading day. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
Sources
- Trading Economics: Crude oil
- Trading Economics: Brent crude oil
- Bloomberg via Swissinfo: Markets wrap
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