Oil Prices Slide 2% after Report Trump Weighed Easing Iran Sanctions

September 12, 2019

Oil prices tumbled more than 2% on Wednesday after a report that U.S. President Donald Trump weighed easing sanctions on Iran, which could boost global crude supply at a time of lingering worries about global energy demand.

The Bloomberg report, attributed to three unnamed sources, said then-National Security Advisor John Bolton argued against such a step.

Brent crude dropped $1.57, or 2.5% lower, at $60.81 after hitting a session low of $60.52, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.65, or 2.9% to end the session at $55.75 a barrel after sliding as low as $55.61.

Bolton’s departure removes one of the strongest advocates of a hard line towards Iran from Trump’s White House. Analysts said that this might suggest that there could be a return of Iran oil to the market, perhaps by the end of the year. Iran will not negotiate with the United States while sanctions on Tehran are still enforced by Washington, Rouhani told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported.

(Reuters)