West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped below $74 a barrel for the first time since early March after the U.S. Treasury Department issued a 60-day general license Monday authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil.
At $73.82 a barrel, WTI had declined 2.7% on the session, a price not seen since March 2. Brent crude settled at $78.29 a barrel, a loss of 2.8% on the day.
The license, published by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, remains in effect until 12:01 a.m. ET on Aug. 21. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X $TWTR that the authorization is part of a broader framework under which Tehran pledged unobstructed passage through the Strait of Hormuz and agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back onto Iranian soil. Ships previously subject to U.S. sanctions are now eligible for transactions under the license, and dollar-denominated payments for Iranian crude are permitted.
After attending the Switzerland sessions over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance told reporters the process had produced a "good foundation for a successful final deal."
The weekend talks got off to a turbulent start. Amidst market reaction to the peace negotiations, Tehran announced a closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, prompting threats from President Donald Trump before direct contact between the two sides was restored. U.S. Central Command disputed that the strait had in fact been closed. A joint statement from mediators Qatar and Pakistan cited "encouraging progress" coming out of the opening session.
The waiver honors a pledge embedded in a memorandum of understanding signed last week by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. That agreement called on Washington to lift restrictions across the Iranian oil supply chain, including financing, shipping, and insurance services, according to Reuters. Parties in North Korea, Cuba, or sanctioned Ukrainian territories such as Crimea remain outside the license's scope.
Before a U.S. naval blockade took effect in April, Iran was moving more than 1.5 million barrels of oil per day for export; by May that figure had fallen to roughly 260,000 barrels per day, according to CNBC. The 60-day window gives both sides a negotiating runway for a final deal, with the license opening the door for broader sanctions relief if talks succeed.
AAA data put the national average for gasoline at $3.93 a gallon Monday, a price that is nevertheless 32% higher than pre-war levels.