Oil prices dropped on Tuesday, May 1, as the dollar remained near a four-month high, but worries that U.S. President Donald Trump will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal underpinned the market.
Brent crude LCOc1 for July delivery was trading 58 cents lower at $74.11 by 1157 GMT. The June contract expired on Monday, settling up 53 cents at $75.17.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery CLc1 was 70 cents down at $67.87 a barrel, after settling 47 cents higher on Monday.
Oil prices rose on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented what he called evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program. Tehran has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons.
But analysts said the lack of a smoking gun took some of the heat out of oil prices. Olivier Jakob of PetroMatrix said the announcement “did not bring anything new to the table,” and the market therefore shed some of the previous day’s gains.
“It shows how much the market has already priced in the expectation that Trump will not extend the waivers,” he said.
