Brent Falls as US-Iran Talks Eyed

2026-02-01 23:43 By Jam Kaimo Samonte 1 min. read

Brent crude futures fell more than 2% to below $68 barrel on Monday, retreating from multi-month highs after US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Iran was engaged in serious talks with Washington.

Tehran’s top security official Ali Larijani also said on X that arrangements for negotiations were underway.

Oil prices had rallied last month on a rising geopolitical risk premium, with Trump repeatedly threatening Iran with military strikes if it failed to sign a nuclear deal, while Tehran warned of retaliation.

Heightened tensions fueled fears of potential disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that is critical for global energy flows, with tankers carrying crude oil and LNG transiting the route daily.

Oil price gains in January were also supported by geopolitical tensions in Venezuela, production outages in Kazakhstan, US production freeze offs, and tighter US restrictions on purchases of Russian



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