Oil Futures Fall as Trump Says Iran Strikes Unlikely During Talks

WTI’s December contract fell $3.11 to $87.72 a barrel, taking prices below $90. January WTI was down $2.96 at $86.63. January Brent slid $4.17 to $94.15 a barrel, while February Brent lost $3.70 to $91.95.

Refined products also declined. December RBOB futures fell 8.14 cents to $2.6953 a gallon, and January RBOB was down 7.43 cents at $2.6533. December ULSD dropped 6.21 cents to $4.2696 a gallon; January ULSD fell 5.92 cents to $4.1647. RBOB was down about 3% overall, while ULSD was off about 1.5%.

Since the start of November, U.S. crude prices have fallen more than 15%, and Brent has dropped about 20% as fears of renewed regional fighting have eased. In a weekend interview with CNN, Trump said further strikes were unlikely while negotiations with Iran were making progress. Democrats have said they plan to press him to end the war after winning control of both houses of Congress in last week’s midterm elections.

Tensions have not disappeared. Houthis launched missile attacks into Saudi Arabia over the weekend, and debris from intercepted missiles damaged the Aramco building in Riyadh on Sunday.

The report was produced by the Oil Price Information Service, operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Reporting by Steve Cronin; editing by Michael Kelly.