Oil prices moved lower in Asian trading on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of a planned military strike on Iran. The decline reflected reduced geopolitical risks for energy markets, while investors also tracked a fresh output increase from OPEC+.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September was down 4.95% at $80.48 per barrel, with Brent crude for October losing 4.59% to $83.89 a barrel. The pullback followed President Trump’s disclosure early Sunday that he had reversed a decision to launch an attack on Iran, citing requests made by Tehran and Middle Eastern nations.
Trump stated that dialogue with Iran was scheduled to begin on Monday, but he did not specify any timeline for reaching a resolution. Earlier, he had indicated that the cancellation of the strike was intended to create space for talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resolving nuclear-related disagreements.
Elsewhere, the OPEC+ alliance announced on Sunday it would increase its collective production quota by roughly 188,000 barrels per day beginning in September. This adjustment marks the final removal of previous voluntary output curbs. The series of planned OPEC+ hikes throughout the year had been mostly symbolic due to reduced exports from the region, as conflicts in Iran and Ukraine disrupted supply from the Gulf, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
The September quota rise, agreed by core OPEC+ producers including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and Oman, completes the reversal of a 1.65 million barrels per day cut initiated in 2023. That agreement initially included the United Arab Emirates, which exited the group in May.
