Oil falls $1 on better supply outlook, hopes for US-Iran talks

Brent crude futures slipped $1.09, or 1.1%, to $98.16 a barrel by 0421 GMT on Wednesday, according to Business Recorder, while West Texas Intermediate dropped $1.50 to $89.01. Both contracts have fallen for six straight sessions and sit near two-week lows. The drop followed Riyadh reopening its East-West route toward the Red Sea, a route drone attacks had forced the kingdom to close on September 11.

Brent settled under the $100 mark on Tuesday, a level it had not closed beneath since September 8, as optimism about supply and a possible end to the nearly seven-month conflict weighed on it. Iraq is also lifting exports, with its oil minister reporting shipments above 3 million barrels per day and a planned increase in flows via Turkey. Saudi Arabia has additionally offered extra barrels to Asian refiners sourcing from outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had conducted fruitful discussions with Iranian intermediaries, even though he had earlier threatened to annihilate Iran. Analyst Tim Waterer of KCM Trade said the market now feels more upbeat about global supply than it did weeks ago. Separately, US crude inventories rose 1.8 million barrels for the week ended September 18, when a Reuters poll of analysts had anticipated a fall.