US Oil Plunges Below $100 On Hopes Of Iran Peace Deal
Drivers could see some relief at the pump after American oil prices tumbled Monday as the U.S. and Iran signaled openness to peace talks.
Simon August · Nov 2, 2026 · 4 min read
Drivers could see some relief at the pump after American oil prices tumbled Monday as the U.S. and Iran signaled openness to peace talks.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was down 7.8 percent at $95.96 a barrel as of Monday afternoon at 1:03 p.m. ET, CNBC market data showed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump would rather resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Asked about possible new strikes on Iran, Rubio said Trump “hasn’t made a decision.”
“He’d prefer to solve it diplomatically,” Rubio said at a press availability at the close of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta.
Rubio added that Trump has expressed “the incredible confidence that if we needed to do something militarily, we would have the ability to do it.”
Wholesale gasoline prices fell 18 to 24 cents a gallon Monday, petroleum analyst Tom Kloza of Kloza Advisors said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The national average could get close to $4 a gallon if those drops hold, he noted.
“However today’s action is both curious and specious and we’ve seen this movie before,” Kloza added.
The State Department did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 8.1 percent at $104.24 a barrel at the same time, still above $100, CNBC market data showed as 1:03 p.m. ET on Monday.
Regular gasoline cost an average of $4.17 a gallon nationwide Monday, down from $4.40 a month earlier but up from $3.04 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
“Crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, however, are limiting further declines at the pump,” AAA said in an Oct. 29 release.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) does not have an estimate that isolates the conflict’s effect on U.S. gasoline and heating oil prices this year, EIA spokesperson Lee Tucker told the DCNF.
“Changes in crude oil prices do not necessarily translate into equivalent changes in retail gasoline and heating oil prices,” Tucker said, adding that the agency’s next Short-Term Energy Outlook is scheduled for Nov. 10.
“Refined products may remain lofty well after crude prices become more moderate,” Kloza said.