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Oil slides toward three-week lows on hopes Strait of Hormuz reopens
Brent crude fell nearly 5% to below $80 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped more than 5% to $76, both hitting levels last seen July 13.
Oil prices fell sharply to their lowest levels in about three weeks as senior US officials said talks with Iran could pave the way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for shipments sooner this week. BBC Business reports that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said discussions have progressed, with Bessent suggesting an agreement could come as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell almost 5% to under $80 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate also dropped more than 5%, to $76 a barrel, with both contracts falling to their lowest levels since July 13.
Rubio said progress has been made on getting more ships through the strait with Iran and Oman, though he cautioned that there is no final outcome yet. Bessent said there is a chance a deal could be reached to reopen the waterway and move the conflict toward a more normalized position, describing it as freedom of movement, without releasing any specifics on terms.
The Strait of Hormuz is described as a key choke point for global supply, handling about one-fifth of global daily oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict began in late February. BBC Business also noted that the disruption has pushed fuel prices higher, with UK petrol averaging £1.60 a litre and US gasoline averaging above $4 a gallon, while diesel is near $5.40 a gallon, according to RAC and AAA data cited in the report.
Latest closeWTI crude $80.00 ▼5.5%|Brent $83.63 ▼7.2%|Nat gas $2.771 ▲0.9%