Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West Pipeline as hopes of a US-Iran diplomatic breakthrough push oil prices below $100 a barrel.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said representatives from the United States and Iran had held “very good” talks at the United Nations, raising hopes of progress towards a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
International benchmark Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell below the $100-a-barrel mark in Asian trading. Brent was at $99.30 a barrel, while WTI dropped 0.7 per cent to $89.93.
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Trump says US-Iran talks were productive
Trump said the three-hour meeting between US and Iranian representatives was “very good” and “very productive”. He added that another meeting had been scheduled for the near future.
His comments came hours after he delivered a strongly worded address at the United Nations, saying he faced a “big decision” over whether to reach a deal with Iran or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly".
Nearly seven months after US-Israeli strikes triggered the war, the two sides remain at an impasse. Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, while the United States is enforcing a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
“The three-hour US-Iran meeting matters because it shifts the market from pure escalation pricing toward a genuine diplomatic process, even if a final deal still looks distant,” said Stephen Innes of Quintex Intel.
Also read | Trump banned CNN from White House; then confronted its reporter at UN
Saudi Arabia moves to restore oil exports
The decline in oil prices also came as Saudi Arabia reportedly restarted operations along its East-West Pipeline, a key export route that had been shut down following drone attacks.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to resume exports through the route later this week, Bloomberg reported, citing a source.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has reportedly told Asian refiners that they could soon receive crude from the Red Sea port of Yanbu. However, European customers were informed that they would not be allocated oil in October.
Asian markets mixed
Asian markets gave mixed signals on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1 per cent, while Shanghai’s Composite declined 0.4 per cent.
Chinese technology giant Alibaba announced plans to expand its overseas data-centre operations across Europe and the Middle East. The announcement came amid renewed investor interest in artificial intelligence following the release of new AI models by Anthropic and OpenAI.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9 per cent, while Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.8 per cent. European markets also opened higher.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was closed for a holiday.
Also read | ‘Saved 30 million lives’: Trump re-ignites India-Pakistan mediation row at UNGA
Trump-Xi meeting in focus
Investors are also watching Washington ahead of Thursday’s meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trade is expected to be a key focus as the world’s two largest economies continue to navigate tensions over tariffs. The two countries have maintained a tariff truce for nearly a year but have yet to reach a lasting agreement.
However, analysts said developments in the Middle East could have a greater impact on markets.
“The higher impact issue will be the war in the Middle East and any support the US can extract from China to use its leverage to sway the Iranians,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
(With AFP inputs)
Published: 23 Sept 2026, 03:36 pm IST
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