Oil prices fall below US$100 after Trump hails ‘very good’ US-Iran talks

Oil prices plummeted below US$100 per barrel on September 23, 2023, following President Donald Trump's praise of the "very good" United Nations talks between US and Iranian representatives. The international benchmark Brent crude and the main US contract West Texas Intermediate dropped to US$98.91 and US$89.93 per barrel respectively in early Asian trade.

This significant decline occurred despite the ongoing conflict and a siege of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, which has restricted energy exports from the region. Trump, speaking to reporters after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, described the three-hour meeting as "very productive" and mentioned another session is scheduled soon.

The announcement came after Trump delivered a fiery speech at the UN, declaring he would either make a deal with Iran or "annihilate the Islamic Republic". Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia reported a restart of operations on its East-West Pipeline, a vital oil export route that had been shut down by the conflict. Saudi Aramco had planned to resume exports later in the week, but their European customers will not receive oil in October.

Asian markets reacted to the news with mixed results, including a 0.8% increase in Taiwan's Taiex index due to renewed AI confidence. However, major AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI had recently unveiled new, lower-cost models and faced differing plans for stock market debuts. Traders are closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, US-China relations, and the rapid advancements in AI technology.