Energy

Oil hits 3-month low; 2 US standoffs bode ill for prices

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Oil prices fell on Tuesday, as the outcome of talks over a U.S. debt deal remained uncertain and Iran unveiled a proposal to achieve a breakthrough in a decade-old standoff over its nuclear program, sending U.S. crude to a 3-month low.

Leaders from the U.S. Senate and House stressed they were working to reach a deal before a Thursday deadline to avoid a default on U.S. government borrowing.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives hope to pass their own version of legislation to reopen the federal government that would differ from a plan emerging on Tuesday from Senate negotiations, Republican lawmakers and aides said.


Brent was trading more than $1 lower, falling under $110 a barrel and extending the two previous sessions' losses. U.S. oil settled down $1.20 at $101.21, its weakest since July.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said described a negotiation meeting on Tuesday in Geneva as "good'' and said he thought the proposal "has the capacity to make a breakthrough.'' Analysts noted that it might still take months, if not years, before free-flowing Iranian oil would be back on the world market.


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