The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil opened this Monday with a 1% decrease, at $82 per barrel.

Futures contracts for WTI crude oil for delivery in May decreased by 80 cents compared to the previous session’s close.

Geopolitics once again set the tone for the crude oil market, and the prevailing argument is that the peak of tension from ten days ago has already passed, and all parties involved are leaning towards de-escalation.

Iran has ruled out further retaliation following the Israeli attack on Isfahan, and its Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, was clear in a recent interview with NBC: ‘As long as there are no new Israeli adventures against our interests, we will not have new reactions on our part,’ he said.

Last week, Texas crude oil lost 3% of its value, similar to Brent’s behavior. However, Texas has appreciated by 16% year-to-date, as recalled by CNBC.

Meanwhile, the Brent crude oil barrel, a reference in Europe, drops by 1% after last week’s surge above $90 in the early hours of Friday following Israel’s attack on Iran. However, the crude oil price later eased to close at $87.29 that Friday.

There are several reasons for a potential change in trend, including a slowdown in demand, a relaxation in Saudi Arabia’s production cuts, or a cooling of bullish sentiment towards more normal levels. Beyond market sentiment aspects, today the market indicates that storage levels are “comfortable” and that Saudi Arabia and its allies have ample additional production capacity.