Brent slides below $100 after Trump says oil prices to ’drop like a rock’

(Investing) – Oil prices slumped on Monday, after President Donald Trump talked up “productive” talks with Tehran to possibly end the ongoing Middle East conflict and said oil would “drop like a rock” if a deal is reached.

At 10:34 ET (14:34 GMT), Brent oil futures — the global benchmark — plummeted 8.6% to $97.26 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 9% to $89.36 a barrel.

Trump said he has called off previously-threatened military strikes against specific facilities in Iran for a five-day period, following “very good conversations” with Tehran.

In a social media post, Trump said that the talks over the last two days about arranging a “complete and total resolution” to hostilities were “productive.”

“Based on the tenor and tone of these” conversations, which will continue throughout the week, Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to “postpone any and all military strikes” against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.

“We have had very, very strong talks. We’ll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement … They went, I would say perfectly,” Trump later told reporters outside Air Force One.

The president predicted that oil prices would “drop like a rock” as soon as an agreement with Iran was reached.

Trump’s administration has taken several steps in order to mitigate oil prices, including temporarily lifting sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.