Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday after the U.S. and Iran signaled they will continue to negotiate over the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear ambitions, signaling a cooling in regional tensions.

Resilience in the dollar, before a string of key U.S. economic readings this week, also kept crude prices under pressure after a 2% drop last week. Major prints from top oil importer China are also due this week.

Brent oil futures for April fell 0.7% to $67.57 a barrel by 21:17 ET (02:17 GMT), while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.7% to $63.12 a barrel.

US, Iran say they will continue nuclear talks
Washington and Tehran said over the weekend that indirect nuclear talks between the two will continue after what they described as positive discussions held in Oman on Friday.

The messaging helped temper concerns that a military conflict in the Middle East was imminent, especially after Washington deployed several warships to the region earlier in the year.

Fears of a conflict had seen traders attach a greater risk premium to oil, with Trump also threatening military action against Tehran.

But odds of an all-out war in the Middle East now appeared less likely, although Tehran signaled that it will still continue with its nuclear enrichment program.

US, Chinese economic prints awaited
Focus this week is also on a host of key economic readings from the world’s largest oil consumers.

In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls data for January is due on Wednesday, while CPI index data is due on Friday.

The prints will be closely watched for more cues on interest rates, with markets also still gauging the outlook for monetary policy under Warsh.

In China, CPI data for January is due on Friday, offering up more cues on the world’s largest oil importer.

The data comes just before China heads into the week-long Lunar New Year holiday– an event that is expected to spur more fuel demand in the country.
Source: Investing.com