Oil prices retreated early Monday after a media report about U.S. President Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict with Iran eased fears of a resumption of the military strikes in the near future.
Brent crude futures for January delivery fell by around 3% to $110 per industry-standard 159-liter barrel in early trading compared with Friday.
The December Brent contract expired, making the January contract the nearest-month futures contract. The December contract had closed at almost $118 a barrel on Friday.
Meanwhile, the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries agreed over the weekend to keep production quotas unchanged in December.
The group had already reversed its latest voluntary production cuts in September. However, the decision is largely symbolic given the war in Iran. Ongoing fighting in the Middle East, including attacks in the Red Sea, continues to threaten oil exports and production facilities across the region.
Iran's top diplomat said in an interview shared on his Telegram channel over the weekend that Iranian negotiators were in Qatar for talks on a proposal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the U.S. meets several conditions. However, he said no direct talks were being held with the U.S.
The final outcome of the diplomatic efforts to avoid a return to all-out war depends on answers provided by the United States to the "Iranian questions," he said.
However, U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson claimed late Sunday that the Trump administration could be days away from launching a nuclear strike on Iran, alleging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring Trump to authorize an attack on a suspected nuclear site in central Iran.
In a lengthy post on X, Carlson identified the potential target as Pickaxe Mountain, where Israeli intelligence allegedly believes Iran has resumed its nuclear enrichment program.
