Oil Slides to $107 as Trump Pauses Iran Strike for Nuclear Talks

Oil prices eased on May 18-19 after President Trump delayed a planned U.S. strike on Iran to pursue diplomatic talks, reducing immediate supply-disruption fears. Brent fell to $109.11 and WTI to $107.28 as markets priced out some Strait of Hormuz risk premium. The week began with Trump’s May 11 claim that the Iran war would end soon, followed by warnings the ceasefire was on “massive life support,” a failed Trump-Xi summit that produced no Hormuz plan, and a brief rally on unconfirmed Chinese crude purchases. Persistent IEA supply-deficit warnings and large U.S. inventory draws had anchored prices above $105, but the latest diplomatic opening triggered the first notable pullback.