Crude oil prices slip as US-Iran deal takes shape

• Crude oil prices drop as US and Iran hold talks in Switzerland
• Iran may return to exporting over 1.5 million barrels a day
• New diplomatic framework could lower global energy costs for India

Crude oil prices have eased after Qatar, Pakistan unveiled the 60-day roadmap for the US-Iran agreement. The first round of high-level negotiations under

the framework of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding have concluded in Switzerland, with mediators Qatar and Pakistan citing "encouraging progress" towards a comprehensive settlement between the United States and Iran. Brent Crude prices trade below 79 dollars a barrel and US WTI Crude prices trade below 77 dollars a barrel (at the time of filing this copy). Oil prices have been extremely volatile ever since the start of the West Asia conflict and earlier today had spiked after US President Donald Trump had threatened to renew military action against Iran but then soon dropped it after talks between US and Iran in Switzerland. In fact the Trump administration on Sunday had said that Iran will once again be able to sell oil on international markets as part of the emerging diplomatic framework between Washington and Tehran, a move that could have significant implications for global energy prices and major oil-importing nations such as India. As per reports, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has even stated that Iran is expected to return to export levels of more than 1.5 million barrels a day, roughly matching volumes seen before the conflict. He said the United States had demonstrated during the confrontation that it could stop Iranian oil exports entirely, giving Washington leverage in the negotiations.

However, Former Obama National Security Adviser, Susan Rice as per reports argued that Tehran was receiving major economic benefits before agreeing to a comprehensive settlement, "as the secretary just acknowledged, Iran, as of the signing of the agreement, so on Thursday, is now able to sell all of its oil and all of its oil products on the market unimpeded," Rice said. She also criticised the Trump administration for allowing Iran to use the international banking system and gain access to frozen assets.