Oil prices fall as hopes of US-Iran peace talks ease supply fears

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $1.33, or 1.3 per cent, at $101.45. Brent rose 1.3 per cent and WTI gained ‌3 per cent on Wednesday. US Vice President JD Vance sought to revive peace negotiations by sending a letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter. "Selling pressure is prevailing amid expectations that peace talks may resume," said Yuki Takashima, an economist at Nomura Securities.

"However, the decline remains limited." This was due to concerns over intensified attacks by the Houthis and fears the US may launch an attack on Iran following its midterm elections set for November 3. The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the group towards the kingdom's eastern region early on Thursday, as hostilities between the two sides show no signs of abating.

The Houthis attacked Aden airport on ‌Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said. The attack came a day after the Houthis said they hit Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery with a missile, stepping up strikes against the world's second-largest crude producer after the United States. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the strike on the 550,000-barrel-per-day facility. Qatari mediators have presented Iran with a new draft deal to end the war with the US and Israel, an official briefed on the negotiations said, but a senior Iranian official dismissed it as unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer.

Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday Tehran continued to ​give diplomacy a chance to succeed and flagged the possibility of completing its seven-day plan in less than a week if ‌adopted. Some expectations of rising crude and diesel production from Russia weighed further on market sentiment and prices. "Since the October 15 strike on the Ryazan refinery, there have been no further confirmed attacks on Russian refining infrastructure," ​JPMorgan analysts ‌said in a note last night.

"The silence has allowed Russian refinery runs to rebound by 350 kbd last week to 4 ‌mbd." "Higher runs would also allow Russia to lift crude production by a broadly comparable amount, reversing part of the recent decline that pushed output to 8.4 mbd-its lowest level since 2003 ... (but) higher crude production would not necessarily ‌translate ​into higher crude ​exports." The US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that energy firms pulled 1.9 million barrels of crude from storage during the week ended October 23, versus analysts' forecast of a 15,000-barrel build in a ‌Reuters poll.

But gasoline stockpiles rose ​by 3.9 million barrels, against analysts' expectations for a draw of 0.9 million barrels. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel First Published: Oct 29 2026 | 10:14 AM IST