What happened to prices
Oil's losing streak hit day four as geopolitical heat eased a notch. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 2.7% to $97.59 a barrel as of 7:48 a.m. ET, while global benchmark Brent slipped 2.8% to $101.
Snapshot quotes showed ICE Brent at 100.80, down 3.07 (2.96%) at 2:48 PM BST, and WTI at 96.56, down 3.74 (3.73%) at 9:48 AM EDT. Even after the slide, crude is still up more than 11% this month.
Why the market moved
Trump has, for now, decided against bombing Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen despite appeals from Saudi Arabia, according to Trump administration officials cited by The New York Times. He also said on Fox News that he might agree to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly this week. In that interview, he described himself as in a "deciding mode" and predicted "very big things" would unfold soon regarding the US-Iran war.
Supply, flows, and what to watch
Despite attacks that led Saudi Arabia to shut its East-West pipeline, crude moving out of the Middle East has held up. JPMorgan said on Sept. 18 that shipments from the Middle East have held up better than expected, pegging the past 10-day average at 17.1 million barrels per day, which is 6.1 million bpd under the 2025 average. Looking ahead, Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group, said prices will likely track how quickly exports normalize and whether diplomacy advances. He added that "any setback or renewed deterioration in shipping conditions would tighten the physical market and restore upward pressure on prices."
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What this means for your wallet
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