TOKYO/SINGAPORE: Oil prices tumbled $4 a barrel on Monday after US President Donald Trump held off on a fresh attack on Iran, seeking to reach a quick deal that would halt Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures slid $4.08, or 4.64 percent, to $83.85 by 2352 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $80.66 a barrel, down $4.01, or 4.74 percent.
Both contracts jumped more than 20 percent last month after fighting between the US and Iran resumed and as attacks on several tankers around Oman heightened security concerns, deterring shippers from entering the Gulf to load oil.
In a sign of de-escalation, Trump said late on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked for time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the vital strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
"Now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon," he said, without providing further details of the venue of the talks or the participants.
