-- Oil futures crashed below $100 per barrel Thursday as prices tumbled on hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Tehran.
The Brent futures contract declined 4.5% to $96.76 per barrel. Murban futures fell 5.1% to $93.18 per barrel.
"Crude oil prices dropped back sharply on the lack of further confrontations in the Persian Gulf as ceasefire seen intact," Saxo Bank analysts said.
Market optimism has been tempered by a diplomatic impasse.
Although President Trump has paused naval escort missions under "Project Freedom" to signal progress toward a peace deal, Tehran maintains that formal negotiations are impossible so long as the US naval blockade remains in effect.
On the supply side, the US Energy Information Administration reported a 2.3 million barrels decrease in domestic crude inventories for the week ending May 1, bringing total stocks down to 457.2 million barrels.
This drawdown was accelerated by a historic surge in American energy shipments.
US petroleum product exports hit a record 8.2 million barrels per day last week, the highest level since the EIA began tracking the data in 1991, the agency said.