Crude oil prices recorded a sharp drop by more than 3% of the Asian trading hours on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated over the weekend that Iran was in discussions with Washington. The shift comes after oil had surged to multi-month highs amid concerns about a potential conflict involving an OPEC member.
Brent crude futures declined by $2.23 to trade at $67.09 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate slid by a similar amount to $63.01 per barrel. The decline follows a spike in January, which brought Brent to levels not seen since six months prior and WTI close to its peak since late September, both driven by fears of U.S.-Iran hostilities.
President Trump stated over the weekend that Iran was engaging in serious dialogue with the United States. His remarks came just hours after Ali Larijani, a high-ranking Iranian security official, mentioned on X that steps were being taken towards negotiations.
Meanwhile, OPEC and its larger alliance (OPEC+) confirmed on Sunday that collective oil output will be maintained at current levels for March. This announcement followed after several sessions of rising crude prices fueled by concerns of a potential U.S. military move against Iran, a significant OPEC producer.
Within the OPEC+ framework, eight producers are set to raise output quotas by approximately 2.9 million barrels per day spanning April to December 2025, representing about 3% of worldwide oil demand.
For the early months of 2026, the group had previously opted to pause planned output hikes due to typically softer demand, confirming at Sunday’s brief meeting that there would be no increase for March, following similar decisions for January and February of the same year.
OPEC+ signaled no immediate changes to production strategy for March, with attention now turning to market conditions and geopolitical developments as the next round of potential policy adjustments approaches.
