Oil prices extended their decline on Friday as renewed diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States came back into focus for traders. West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.3% to $92.41 a barrel, bringing its loss for the week to 7.9%.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped 2.1% to $104.32 but finished the full week roughly flat.

Iran has placed a new proposal on the table. Tehran said it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if Washington carries out the terms of the interim peace agreement reached in June. The waterway sits at the center of the conflict because it is a major route for global energy shipments: the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that roughly one-fifth of the world's petroleum liquids consumption transits the strait, which is why its status ranks among the most closely watched variables in global oil supply.

The June deal did not hold for long. Hostilities resumed after the two sides clashed over transit rights through Hormuz, and Iran has not detailed how its latest offer would prevent the same dispute from triggering another round of fighting.

Iran offers to reopen Hormuz as Washington weighs Tehran's latest deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters at the U.N. on Thursday that Tehran would resume negotiations toward a permanent agreement once Washington meets the conditions contained in the earlier memorandum of understanding.

Iran is now waiting for an American response. Araghchi also tied the possible timing to the U.S. political calendar.

“I think it would be much better if it is done before the midterm election, but it depends on the U.S. administration to decide,” Araghchi said. “We are not in a hurry.”

Washington's answer is now the next concrete marker for the negotiations — and for an oil market that has tracked the diplomatic channel closely all week.

The diplomatic push comes while Iranian oil exports remain heavily restricted. Reuters reported on September 1, citing tanker-monitoring companies including TankerTrackers, that no major Iranian crude cargo had moved through Hormuz toward China for roughly seven weeks.

At the same time, millions of Iranian barrels are moving in the opposite direction.

TankerTrackers reported on September 24, 2026, that almost 6 million barrels of confiscated Iranian crude were crossing the Atlantic on their way to the United States. The cargo is estimated to be worth around $600 million.

According to the tracking company, the barrels were being transferred "quietly" to America. It did not disclose how many ships were involved, and it withheld both the vessels' identities and the final ports expected to receive the shipments.

One tanker is already known. The Majestic X holds around 1.88 million barrels of Iranian oil valued at approximately $200 million, and media reports have previously identified the detained vessel as bound for Texas.

The ship has a story of its own. Majestic X — renamed from Phoenix — is currently unregistered in any country. It was apprehended by the United States in the Indian Ocean in April while en route to China.

Seized Iranian barrels move toward Texas as U.S. drillers add rigs

New maritime data reviewed by Voice of America showed the Majestic X and another tanker, the Tifani, traveling from waters close to the South American coastline toward Galveston, Texas.

A third vessel, the Skyview, remains in Asian waters, carrying Iranian crude that the United States confiscated earlier this spring. Reports released in May had already detailed the Skyview's seizure and its role in moving Iranian barrels.\nSeveral tankers linked to Iranian crude exports have been seized by the U.S. in the Indian Ocean this spring. The U.S. Department of Defense earlier confirmed that naval operations targeting networks that violate sanctions would be conducted, adding that international waters do not constitute a haven for such vessels.

Neither the U.S. government nor officials of the Islamic Republic had responded to the newest report on the nearly 6 million barrels heading toward America when the information was published, leaving the cargo's final destinations and its official status unresolved.

U.S. domestic drilling activity moved higher over the same period. Oilfield services company Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR) reported Friday that American producers added three oil rigs during the week ending September 25, lifting the nationwide oil rig count to 455.

The rig count is widely tracked as a gauge of drilling activity and potential oil production. The current figure represents an increase of 31 oil rigs compared with the same time last year.