International oil prices fell below $100 a barrel amid expectations of a recovery in crude oil supplies in the Middle East.
Accordingly, Brent crude futures for November delivery on London's ICE Futures Exchange settled at $99.25 a barrel, down 1.1% from the previous session.
This marks the first time that Brent crude, the global benchmark, has fallen below the $100 mark since September 8 ($97.92).
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery closed at $94.59 a barrel, down 1.2% from the previous day.
Development comes as U.S. President Donald Trump presented two choices, negotiations with Iran or total annihilation, during his keynote speech at the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly held at the UN headquarters in New York, but the market placed more weight on the possibility of a diplomatic resolution.
President Trump stated, “Will we make a deal with Iran so they can rebuild and make their country greater than ever before? Or will we quickly annihilate Iran, giving them no further opportunity to kill people and destroy nations?”
He added, “It makes no sense for them not to negotiate, so I believe a deal will be reached right after the election.”
Although the Iranian delegation at the UN General Assembly walked out after President Trump mentioned "hell" and "annihilation," the market showed little reaction.
Instead, the market focused more on signs that disruptions to Middle East crude supplies were easing.
President Trump emphasized that the U.S. military recently escorted a tanker carrying 1 billion barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz, and that more crude oil than ever before is passing through the strait under U.S. protection.
In addition, it was reported that the Saudi Arabian East-West pipeline, which was damaged by attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels, has begun restarting operations.
Several news outlets reported that the pipeline has already started operating and is expected to recover a significant amount of its throughput by this weekend, resuming exports around September 29.
Furthermore, according to shipping data firm Kpler, the highest volume of shipments since the outbreak of the war with Iran took place at Saudi Arabia's eastern Ras Tanura port, with six very large crude carriers departing carrying 12 million barrels of crude oil.
– with Agencies inputs --
