West Texas crude falls 1.5% to $101.76 amid Tehran talks
Key Facts
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $101.76 a barrel at the Oct. 26 settlement, while Brent fell 0.8% to $115.81, as regional talks in Tehran raised hopes of de-escalation. The decline followed strong weekly gains, with Brent up 6% and U.S. crude rising 2.3% in the week ended Oct. 23. Reuters said Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia kept investors cautious and prices near six-month highs. Officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey gathered in Tehran on Monday, with the talks hosted by Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. They included Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin. The countries did not announce a date or location for another round.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the visit was part of efforts to “de-escalate, strengthen dialogue and pursue diplomatic solutions,” while Saudi Arabia said the delegations discussed ways to reduce tensions and strengthen regional security and stability. Participants agreed to continue talks and expand cooperation, particularly on regional peace and security, without setting a date or location for the next meeting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country supports any agreement that deepens regional cooperation and helps resolve disputes and make use of the shared resources and capabilities of Islamic countries. Iranian spokesman Esmail Baghaei described the meeting as potentially “a first step toward establishing regional security mechanisms.” A Pakistani official said the agenda included a proposed nonaggression network, U.S.-Iran talks and the Strait of Hormuz.
The talks also addressed the war in Yemen and attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia, according to regional officials cited by the Associated Press. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said renewed attacks on Iran could destabilize the region and harm countries that are not party to the conflict. Meanwhile, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia kept supply concerns in focus despite the hopes raised by the talks. Reuters said the wider fighting had restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy route, and driven global oil and gas prices higher. The settlement decline therefore coincided with ongoing geopolitical risks that kept prices near six-month highs.
The talks did not include Iran’s nuclear program, according to an Iranian official cited by Reuters. Tehran has tied discussions on the issue to meeting its demands for ending the war, including ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and lifting sanctions on oil exports. A Pakistani official said Islamabad had presented Iran with a proposal to resolve the conflict that could offer gains to both the United States and Iran, but did not disclose details. He added that the Mecca Agreement countries and Qatar could act as guarantors of the proposal if it were accepted. The initiative’s fate remains tied to whether the parties concerned accept it, while no date has been announced for further talks.
The efforts trace back to a temporary agreement that Pakistan and Qatar helped broker in June, which aimed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, end the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and open broader negotiations. It quickly collapsed as fighting between Iran and the United States resumed, before the confrontation widened to include the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. In trading, closing data for Oct. 26 showed West Texas crude falling from $103.27 on Oct. 23 to $101.76, while Brent slipped from $116.72 to $115.81. Bloomberg cited a technical headwind: Brent’s 14-day relative strength index topped 74 on Friday, exceeding the 70 level that typically signals overbought territory. Markets were awaiting the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly report, usually released Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time; the agency’s schedule did not specify an exceptional release date for Oct. 28.