OMM Newsroom
Oil prices fell for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as hopes of a US-Iran agreement to end an eight-month conflict eased concerns about disruptions to global energy supplies, Anadolu Agency reported.
At 1700 GMT, Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were down $1.59, or 1.5%, at $103.20 a barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 63 cents, or 0.7%, to $95.83 a barrel after briefly trading below $95.
Both benchmarks had dropped more than 7% on Monday after Washington and Tehran signalled openness to negotiations. US President Donald Trump told reporters a deal with Iran was possible, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had authorised his government to pursue dialogue.
Qatar is seeking an interim agreement to build trust between Washington and Tehran and prepare the way for negotiations on a lasting settlement, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a briefing in Doha, Al Ansari said a Qatari delegation had returned from Tehran on Monday evening after more than three hours of talks with Iranian officials. Washington and Tehran were reviewing proposals presented by mediators, he said.
Al Ansari said differences remained between the two sides and that Qatar had no diplomatic breakthrough to announce. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Tuesday that Tehran would reject diplomacy based on coercion or blackmail, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Oil prices had risen earlier on Tuesday following reports that US forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Brent crude briefly climbed above $107 a barrel before reversing course.
