Oil falls to $94 as Qatar's PM carries Iran's Hormuz deal to White House

Brent crude fell 3.6% to $94.00 per barrel on Monday as Qatar's prime minister headed to the White House with an Iranian proposal for an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Oilprice.com reported the move, and Energy News Beat carried the same figures. Oilprice.com said two diplomatic sources told Israeli media that Iran had signed off on the terms. Capital Brief said the report was disputed, noting that a Qatari official told Bloomberg it was false.

What we know

• Oilprice.com reported that WTI dropped 3% to $88.09 as of 7:26 a.m. ET, while Capital Brief said Brent fell from above USD98 to below USD94 after the Israeli report.
• Oilprice.com reported that, under the terms described by the two diplomatic sources, Tehran would reopen Hormuz and halt attacks on Gulf tankers, and Washington would lift its naval and economic blockade of Iran and release $8 billion in Iranian funds frozen in Qatar.
• Capital Brief said Israel Hayom, which it described as a widely distributed free newspaper, reported that Iran had dropped its demand for control of the strait, but that a Qatari official told Bloomberg the report was false and negotiations were ongoing.
• House of Saud reported that Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met President Donald Trump in a closed-door Oval Office session on Monday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources who spoke to Israel Hayom, and that the White House released no public readout.
• Oilprice.com reported that Trump said renewed U.S. strikes on Iran were "highly unlikely" if negotiations produce a strong agreement, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran's demands "outrageous and ridiculous", although House of Saud dated both remarks to Monday and Oilprice.com to Sunday.
• Oilprice.com reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran's offer to reopen Hormuz within two days stands, on condition that the war ends on all fronts.

What we don't know yet

• Whether Iran has accepted the terms: Oilprice.com said neither government has confirmed them, and Capital Brief said a Qatari official told Bloomberg the report was false.
• Whether Iran has agreed to admit IAEA inspectors before Hormuz reopens, which House of Saud said remains unconfirmed because the condition appears only in reports citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
• Whether the $8 billion figure is accurate, since House of Saud said no official U.S. or Iranian statement has confirmed the amount.
• What Trump decided after the meeting: Oilprice.com said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly oppose a deal along these lines, and Capital Brief said U.S. and Gulf officials told Reuters they did not expect an imminent breakthrough.

Background

Qatar Standard reported in October that Ibrahim bin Sultan Al-Hashmi, Director of the Media and Communication Department at Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Iran must show good faith, stop threatening countries of the region and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as mediation efforts renewed. In November, Qatar Standard also reported that Iran had exempted ships from India, China, Iraq and Qatar from transit restrictions in the strait, according to Amir Hayat Moghadam, Deputy Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.