Brent Crude Slips Below $90 as Traders Shrug Off New US Iran Sanctions

Brent crude oil broke below the closely watched $90 per barrel level on August 25, extending a selloff that pushed both benchmarks to one-week lows. Brent futures fell to their lowest since August 19, trading around $91.82 a barrel by mid-morning in London, while WTI crude slid to approximately $84.30-$84.60 per barrel, with both contracts down roughly 0.4% on the day after losing more than 2% in the prior session. The pullback reflects profit-taking after a multi-week rally that had carried Brent above $92 per barrel, with traders largely dismissing the latest round of US sanctions targeting Iranian energy trade and transport routes as insufficient to tighten global supply.

The Trump administration's expanded sanctions package, which signaled China would not be exempted, initially rattled markets but failed to sustain a bid, suggesting investors see limited near-term disruption to Iranian crude flows. Elevated geopolitical risk tied to Middle East tensions and Red Sea shipping corridors continues to underpin broader volatility in energy markets.