Oil prices steady as traders weigh US-Iran diplomacy

Oil prices held firm on Thursday, October 1, 2026, as investors assessed renewed United States-Iran diplomatic efforts to end the ‌Middle East conflict.

Brent crude futures were up 0.6 % to $98.67 a barrel by 0704 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $90.09 a barrel.

Prices remained volatile in the session, with both the benchmarks ​dropping over 1%, but recovered losses.

Brent recorded a monthly gain of around 14% ​in September, its biggest since July, while WTI increased by about 5% ⁠on the month.

“Oil’s near-term bias remains negative as recovering shipments from the Gulf region, ​resumed Saudi exports through Yanbu and a buildup in US inventories ease supply concerns,” said ​Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm.

Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from Yanbu, after earlier restarting operations on its East-West Pipeline.

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Meanwhile, US crude inventories rose by 922,000 ​barrels to 427.3 million barrels in the week ended September 25, the Energy Information ​Administration said, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 264,000-barrel draw.

“Renewed US-Iran diplomatic engagement could ‌further ⁠reduce the geopolitical risk premium, although a breakthrough remains uncertain,” Sachdeva said.

Iran said on Wednesday it had received a US response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf.

US President Donald Trump denied reports by Axios and CNN, however, that cited US officials ​as saying he was ​willing to give ⁠Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for “concrete” steps by Tehran on its nuclear programme.

Goldman Sachs estimates Gulf oil ​exports, including “dark exports” involving ships operating with their location transponders turned ​off, have ⁠recovered to 23.3 million barrels per day over the last week, in line with their 2025 average, as exports doubled in September.

Also, OPEC+ oil-producing ⁠countries ​are likely to keep their oil production targets steady for ​November when they meet on Sunday, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.