Oil Prices Fall as Traders Weigh U.S.-Iran Diplomacy

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Oil prices dropped Thursday as traders evaluated U.S. diplomatic moves with Iran alongside persistent regional security threats. December Brent crude futures declined 1.2% to $113.91 per barrel, and December West Texas Intermediate futures fell 1.4% to $101.34 per barrel. U.S. Vice President JD Vance initiated contact with Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to restart peace negotiations, a step President Trump authorized on Wednesday. Reports from U.S. officials indicate the U.S. has also advised several Gulf Arab states to ready for a potential brief, intense military operation against Iran after next week’s U.S. midterm elections.

Background

• The Saudi-led military coalition announced early Thursday that its air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi militants toward Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
• U.S. commercial crude inventories decreased by 1.9 million barrels to 410.6 million barrels in the week ending October 23, according to the Energy Information Administration.
• Seven OPEC+ producers are scheduled to meet on Sunday to review market conditions and production policy.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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