Oil plunges after Trump comments ease Iran fears
- Brent futures were down $2.19, or 3.3%, at $64.33 a barrel
LONDON: Oil prices tumbled more than 3% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said that killings of demonstrators during protests in Iran were ending, easing concerns over military action against Iran and potential oil supply disruptions.
Brent futures were down $2.19, or 3.3%, at $64.33 a barrel by 1221 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude retreated by $2.06, or 3.3%, to $59.96, having earlier lost as much as 4.6%.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been told that killings in Iran’s crackdown on protests were easing and that he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions, adopting a wait-and-see posture after earlier threatening intervention.
The comments reduced the risk premium that had built up in recent days, analysts said. On Wednesday, Brent reached a high of $66.82, its highest since September.
“While the situation remains fragile, the immediate risk premium has softened but is unlikely to go away given the continued risk of a disruption,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
The United States is withdrawing some personnel from military bases in the Middle East, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had told neighbours it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Further weighing on prices, U.S. crude and gasoline inventories rose last week by more than analysts had estimated,the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Venezuela has begun reversing oil production cuts made under a U.S. embargo, with crude exports also resuming, three sources said.
On the demand side, OPEC said on Wednesday that 2027 oil demand was likely to rise at a similar pace to this year and published data indicating a near balance between supply and demand in 2026, contrasting with other forecasts of a glut.
China’s crude oil imports in December rose 17% from a year earlier while total imports in 2025 were up 4.4%, government data showed, with daily crude import volumes hitting record highs.
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