Oil tumbles as Trump cancels attack on Iran to reach nuclear deal

<p> SINGAPORE: Oil prices tumbled more than $4 a barrel on Monday after US President <a href=https://www.arabnews.com/tags/donald-trump>Donald Trump</a> held off on a fresh <a href=https://www.arabnews.com/WarinIran>attack</a> on Iran, seeking to reach a quick deal that would halt Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen ​the <a href=https://www.arabnews.com/tags/strait-hormuz>Strait of Hormuz</a>.</p> <p> Brent <a href=https://www.arabnews.com/tags/energy-0>crude</a> futures slid $4.49, or 5.11 percent, to $83.44 by 07:08 a.m. Saudi time while US ​West Texas Intermediate crude was at $79.77 a barrel, down $4.90, or 5.79 percent.</p> <p> Both contracts jumped ⁠more than 20 percent last month after fighting between the <a href=https://www.arabnews.com/category/tags/us>US</a> and Iran resumed and ​as attacks on several tankers around Oman heightened security concerns, deterring shippers from entering the ​Gulf to load oil.</p> <p> In a sign of de-escalation, Trump said late on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked for time to complete a deal that would lead ​to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the vital strait and “an end to Iran’s ​nuclear threat.”</p> <p> “The bigger focus is whether this week turns into a rinse and repeat of last week — ‌with hopes ⁠of a deal collapsing as Iran digs in its heels and continues to leverage its control over the Strait, potentially through an attack on a US base or a tanker transiting the waterway,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.</p> <p> Two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the ​Bab el-Mandeb Strait out of ​the Red Sea over ⁠the weekend while traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed following reports of vessel attacks, shipping data showed on Monday.</p> <p> The UK Maritime Trade Operations ​has reported three more tanker attacks since Saturday.</p> <p> On Sunday, OPEC+ approved an ​oil production ⁠quota increase of around 188,000 barrels per day from September, the producer group said, in a move that completes the unwinding of a layer of voluntary output cuts.</p> <p> Due to export disruptions ⁠from the ​Gulf, Russia and Kazakhstan caused by the Iran and ​Ukraine wars, successive monthly OPEC+ hikes over most of this year have remained largely on paper with little impact ​on the market.</p>