- International crude prices dropped over $1 per barrel ahead of US Iran sanctions announcement
- Brent crude fell 1.29% to $93.17, WTI declined 1.38% to $85.86 per barrel on August 24
- US Treasury plans historic sanctions on Iran amid stalled US-Iran peace talks on oil shipments
International crude oil prices slipped more than $1 per barrel on Monday, Aug. 24 as investors took profits ahead of an expected announcement from Washington about imposing more sanctions on Iran that may further disrupt supplies from the Middle East. Benchmark Brent crude futures fell $1.22, or 1.29%, to $93.17, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.86 per barrel, down $1.20, or 1.38%.
Both contracts posted their second weekly gains last week, up more than 5%, as peace talks between the US and Iran hit a stalemate, capping oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz where a fifth of the world's supply used to transit. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, set to hold a press conference at 2 pm EDT on Monday, has threatened to impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran.
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US President Donald Trump has also threatened to impose sanctions on Iran's trading partners. Iran has condemned US plans to announce new sanctions even as President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a diplomatic solution. Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have declined and prices have jumped as the US blockade has cut Tehran's shipments, according to news agency Reuters.
However, Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait following repeated requests from Baghdad, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. Iran threatened on Monday to halt all oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf if the United States pressed ahead with a fresh wave of sanctions.
The remarks came hours before US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled what Washington has called an 'economic D-Day' against Tehran. "If the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf," Iran's supreme national security council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said in a post on X in the early hours of Monday.
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