Oil Holds Near $102 as Stalled U.S.-Iran Talks Keep Supply Risks in Focus

LONDON — Oil prices were largely steady Wednesday as uncertainty over U.S.-Iran negotiations continued to support crude markets, even as signs emerged that Middle Eastern supplies were recovering.

Brent’s November futures contract fell 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $102.43 a barrel at 0811 GMT. The more actively traded December contract declined 18 cents to $95.98, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2 cents to $89.40.

Brent is on track for an approximately 13% monthly increase, which would mark its largest monthly advance since July. WTI is headed for a monthly gain of about 4%.

Markets have been closely monitoring diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran for indications that supply disruptions could ease. U.S. President Donald Trump denied an Axios report that he was prepared to offer Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in exchange for concrete steps involving Tehran’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile, physical oil flows have shown improvement. Saudi Arabia resumed tanker loadings at its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on its East-West Pipeline. Goldman Sachs estimated that Gulf oil exports had recovered to 23.3 million barrels per day in the latest week, roughly in line with their 2025 average.

JPMorgan put the 10-day average for total oil exports over the preceding five days at 20.5 million barrels per day, or 89% of 2025 levels.

Analysts said the recovery in crude supplies could ease some pressure on oil prices, but shortages of refined products and high freight costs continued to keep the wider energy market tight.

The White House has also called on the European Union to reduce emergency diesel inventories in an effort to bring down global prices. Trump is considering permitting sales of red-dyed diesel as an alternative to an export ban to offer consumers some relief from higher prices.

U.S. crude and gasoline inventories rose last week, while distillate stockpiles declined, according to American Petroleum Institute data cited by market sources. Official inventory figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration were expected later Wednesday.