Oil prices are falling for a fourth consecutive session, with Brent — the European benchmark crude — on course to close its longest losing streak since June, as markets focus on diplomatic efforts to end the conflict with Iran and on the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent was down 1.83% in morning trade, edging back toward the $100-a-barrel mark and changing hands at $101.99, having nearly touched $110 in the final week of the second week of September. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, shed 2.01% to $98.21 a barrel, while European natural gas fell 1.98% to €77.94 per megawatt hour.
In a signal that negotiations between Washington and Tehran may be gaining ground, US President Donald Trump told Fox News that he would “probably” be open to meeting his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which takes place this week. The leader of the world’s largest economy is also scheduled to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and may meet with representatives of Persian Gulf states.
At the same time, there are signs that vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is accelerating. According to US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, flows of crude oil and liquefied natural gas through the waterway — a critical artery for global trade — reached their highest level in six months over the past two weeks. In a video released on Saturday, Cooper stated that the strait’s main shipping lanes are clear of mines and that US allies in the Persian Gulf have managed to transport more than one billion barrels over the past two months.
“The market is transitioning from a deterioration in supply conditions to a phase where the worst of the crisis may already have passed,” Xuyi Zhao, a senior oil analyst at Guotai Junan Futures, told Bloomberg. However, Brent is likely to consolidate around the $100 level, as conditions for a sustained downward trend have not yet materialised, the analyst added.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/21/commodities-3/petroleo-cede-quase-2-apos-trump-admitir-voltar-a-negociar-com-o-irao/
