Oil prices on Monday continued to tumble significantly, amid continued attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz and driven by U.S. president Donald Trump signalling that further military attacks on Iran were unlikely.
After the brash billionaire on Sunday said he was highly unlikely to order fresh attacks as long as talks to end the war progressed, Brent as of 1704 GMT was down $4.57, or 4.6 percent, at $93.75 per barrel; West Texas Intermediate fell $3.19, or 3.5 percent, to $87.64.
Despite the optimism that caused Monday’s selloff, s senior Iranian security official told the country's state media that Tehran has no plans to negotiate unless Washington meets seven conditions set out in a June interim agreement.
Presumably, this signalled that achieving a peace agreement would be hopeless unless Washington recanted its earlier position and fully agreed to lift its blockade against Iran, withdraw U.S. forces, pay war damage compensation, and release $8-billion in frozen assets – in addition to not discussing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The latest development in negotiations saw Qatar’s prime minister heading to the White House with an Iranian proposal for an interim deal to reopen the Hormuz, which included the aforementioned stipulations and would also see Iran charging transit fees for the waterway.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio echoed the sentiments of many of Trump’s cabinet by stating that Iran’s demands are “outrageous and ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, a fire was extinguished in the Medina region after Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline was struck, according to state media; operations were not affected.
This came in the wake of Iran-backed Houthis claiming responsibility for an attack at Saudi Aramco's corporate office in Riyadh, which blew out windows.
However, this combined with fresh tanker attacks near the Hormuz did little to affect the actual flow of crude; for its part, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) crude output rose by 1.38 million barrels per day (bpd) in October from the previous month to 22.87 million bpd, contributing to what JPMorgan previously stated in a note that the global oil market was showing signs of a return to excess supply.
