Oil prices plunge 6% as US-Iran diplomacy eases supply fears

Brent falls to $106.50 a barrel, while US benchmark slips below $98 as diplomatic efforts focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices fell about 6% on Monday as diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran conflict eased concerns over further disruptions to oil shipments from the Gulf. International benchmark Brent crude fell $6.90, or 6%, to $106.50 a barrel as of 1400GMT, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate dropped $6.25, or 6%, to $97.87 a barrel. Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei approved the government's pursuit of talks to end the conflict, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had traveled to Doha to exchange messages with Washington through Qatari mediators. Baghaei said Iran's proposal linked the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to an end to the US naval blockade of Iran. US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call that he wanted to give diplomacy more time before deciding whether to resume strikes on Iran, Axios reported. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Trump preferred a diplomatic resolution and had yet to decide on further strikes. Separately, seven OPEC+ producers agreed Sunday to keep their oil production targets unchanged for December, extending a pause in output increases that began in October.