Oil Erases Gains and Settles Lower on Qatar-Pakistan Iran Peace Proposal Reports

Crude oil erased an intraday rally of over 5% to settle lower on Tuesday as unconfirmed reports of a Qatar-Pakistan diplomatic proposal eased Middle East supply concerns. Brent crude retreated from $111.99 to settle down 0.7% at $108.79 per barrel, while WTI dropped to $97.82, closing down 0.73%. Energy markets experienced volatile swings earlier after a diplomat denied that a deal between the U.S. and Iran was imminent, briefly pushing crude above $97 after hitting a session low of $95.25. Downward momentum persisted amid reports that Saudi September production surged 40% month-over-month to 8.732 million barrels per day.