By Anita Hamilton and George Glover
Oil prices fell Friday morning after Iran sent a new proposal for peace negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, according to its state-run media outlet, the Islamic Republic News Agency.
By 10:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday, Brent crude international futures had fallen back 2.9% to $107.21 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate U.S. futures fell even more sharply by 4.6% to $100.18.
Both benchmarks been trading around $110 a barrel in recent days after a post by President Donald Trump on Truth Social suggested that renewed attacks were imminent.
But analysts at 22V Research wrote in a Friday note that any renewed strikes might not signal a longer war. Instead, "it is overwhelmingly likely that they will be of the latter 'wrapping up nature', and as such essentially helping cut short what might otherwise be a prolonged standoff of dueling U.S. and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz," they wrote.
April was a wild month for oil. Brent settled as low as $90.38 a barrel on April 17, but ended the month at more than $110 a barrel, having briefly touched its highest level since 2022 on Thursday.
"Oil had a U-shaped performance, ending not far from where it started, but with Brent crude up over 25% from the mid-month lows," said Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid. "So a fascinating month."
Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com and George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2026 11:16 ET (15:16 GMT)
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