Crude futures dropped on Thursday morning after Iran confirmed that nuclear talks with the US are scheduled for Friday in Oman.

ICE April Brent futures traded at $67.90/bl as of 3:47 AM in London, down by 2.2% from the Wednesday close of $69.46/bl.

A drop of this scale would be equivalent to a fall of more than $11/mt in bunker prices in metric tonnes.

“Nuclear talks with the United States are scheduled to be held in Muscat on about 10 am Friday,” Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister of Iran, said in a social media post on late Wednesday.

“I’m grateful to our Omani brothers for making all necessary arrangements,” he added.

The confirmation comes after speculation that the planned talks between Washington and Tehran were close to collapsing, a development that had raised regional tensions and supported crude prices.

Tensions in the Middle East nevertheless remain elevated. US forces on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that approached one of their aircraft carrier, while Iranian gunboats reportedly attempted to seize a US-flagged vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.