LONDON: Oil prices fell on Thursday as hopes of renewed US-Iran peace talks eased concerns over Middle East supply disruptions, outweighing fears of further regional attacks.
Brent crude futures dropped $1.27, or 1.1%, to $114.05 a barrel by 9:22 am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.51, or 1.5%, to $101.27 a barrel. Both benchmarks had risen on Wednesday. Brent gained 1.3%, while WTI climbed 3%.
US Vice President JD Vance reportedly sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei seeking to revive peace negotiations.
Qatari mediators also presented Tehran with a new draft agreement to end the war involving the United States and Israel.
A senior Iranian official dismissed the proposals as unacceptable. However, Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Tehran remained open to diplomacy.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo attributed Thursday’s selling pressure to renewed efforts to ease the conflict. Continuing attacks in the region limited the decline.
Read: Iran Economic Pressure Grows Under US Oil Blockade, Maleki Says
The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile heading towards eastern Saudi Arabia early Thursday. Yemeni government forces reported an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday.
The Houthis separately claimed a missile strike against a major Saudi refinery. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said three tankers struck sea mines near the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire.
Read:Iran War Escalation Could Hit Global Economy, Analysts Warn
Expectations of a recovery in Russian refinery activity also weighed on crude prices. JPMorgan analysts estimated Russian refinery runs rose by 350,000 barrels a day last week to 4 million barrels daily.
Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration reported a 1.9-million-barrel decline in crude inventories during the week ended October 23.
Analysts had expected a 15,000-barrel increase. US gasoline inventories, however, rose 3.9 million barrels, against forecasts of a 900,000-barrel decline.
