U.S. Crude Sinks Below $100 as Trump Opens Door to Iran Talks

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday, extending their decline into a fourth consecutive session after President Donald Trump indicated that he was open to diplomacy with Iran.

Trump also reportedly decided against bombing Yemen for the time being.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 4% to $96.15 per barrel by 10:07 a.m. ET.

The decline took the U.S. crude benchmark back below the closely watched $100 per barrel level.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 3.3% to $100.47 per barrel during the same session.

Despite the latest retreat, crude prices have advanced more than 11% this month.

The market movement followed comments from Trump about a possible meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Trump told Fox News that he would probably be open to meeting Pezeshkian at the UN General Assembly this week.

The possibility of direct diplomacy emerged as Trump refrained from immediately ordering another military action in the region.

Administration officials told The New York Times that the president had decided against bombing Houthi militants allied with Iran for the time being, despite pleas from Saudi Arabia.

The decision added another diplomatic element to a market already focused on disruptions affecting oil infrastructure and transportation in the Middle East. Crude flows from the region appeared resilient even after Saudi Arabia shut down its East West pipeline because of attacks.

JPMorgan analysts highlighted the continued movement of oil despite the pipeline disruption.

“Middle East oil flows remain surprisingly strong despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline,” the analysts wrote in a Sept. 18 note.

According to JPMorgan, total oil flows averaged 17.1 million barrels per day during the previous 10 days. That level was 6.1 million barrels per day below the 2025 average, the analysts added.

The figures showed that substantial volumes continued moving even as the Saudi pipeline remained shut.

At the same time, the gap between recent flows and the 2025 average kept potential supply issues in view.

Trump’s comments did not remove uncertainty surrounding the conflict involving the U.S. and Iran.

He told Fox News that he was in a “deciding mode” and said “very big things” were going to happen in the near future regarding the war.

Those remarks placed the possibility of diplomacy alongside the prospect of additional developments in the conflict.

Oil prices consequently remained closely connected to both export movements and political developments described in the source.

Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group, said prices were likely to remain closely tied to the pace of export normalization and diplomatic progress. His assessment linked the direction of crude prices to developments in physical supply and negotiations.

Shipping conditions were another central factor identified by Takieddine. Changes affecting the movement of crude could alter the balance in the physical oil market and influence the direction of prices.

“Any setback or renewed deterioration in shipping conditions would tighten the physical market and restore upward pressure on prices,” Takieddine added.

His warning came as the market weighed resilient regional flows against continuing risks to supply and transportation.

For Monday’s session, the possibility of talks and the reported decision to hold back from bombing the Houthis accompanied a pronounced retreat in both major crude benchmarks. WTI fell below $100, while Brent remained just above that threshold at $100.47 per barrel.

The fourth straight session of losses did not erase crude’s monthly advance of more than 11%.

Still, the latest declines showed prices responding to diplomatic signals while export normalization, shipping conditions, regional attacks and potential supply issues remained important market considerations.