NEW YORK: Oil prices settled slightly higher on Monday on worries about ongoing supply disruptions as Qatari mediators pledged to hold talks with the US and Iran in hopes of finding a peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Prices jumped over USD4 a barrel in early trade after US President Donald Trump rejected a proposal from Iran that would have reopened the strait. Oil then pared gains on expectations Qatari mediators would hold talks with both sides.
Brent futures settled up 96 cents, or 0.9 percent, at settle at USD105.28 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 19 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at USD92.60.
Qatari mediators are expected to hold separate talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in New York and with the US side on Monday or Tuesday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Over the weekend, Iran insisted that only diplomacy can solve its conflict with the US and Israel, after Trump rejected the Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities.
Keeping the door to diplomacy open, however, Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in more talks this week.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Washington on Monday for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Saudi state news agency said, amid escalating hostilities between Riyadh and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Comments