ConocoPhillips (COP) news that moved the stock

What happened

Oil prices plunged Monday on the strongest signs yet of U.S.-Iran diplomatic progress: WTI crude fell as much as 8.1% to $95.70 a barrel and Brent as much as 8.5% to $108.83, wiping out Friday's late surge and more as WTI slipped back under $100. The catalyst was a burst of diplomatic signals: the Wall Street Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance sent a message to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to restart peace talks; Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had granted the government 'certain authorities' to pursue negotiations; and Iranian negotiators circulated a draft proposal after days of talks with Qatari mediators, with a follow-up meeting possible. The slide was reinforced on the supply side when seven OPEC+ producers agreed Sunday to keep December production targets unchanged, declining to add cuts that would have supported prices.

What happened

NBC News, citing three US officials, disclosed Monday, Sept. 28 that an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile struck a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Sept. 14, injuring eight US Marines (seven enlisted, one officer) with smoke inhalation and possible traumatic brain injuries; all returned to duty shortly after, and the Pentagon had never publicly announced it. The vessel was not a Navy ship — officials called it a "maritime vessel" with a battalion landing team aboard. In parallel, per Saudi Press Agency statements carried by the WSJ's Sept. 28 oil report, Houthi ballistic missiles and drones were launched toward Riyadh and Khamis Mushait; Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile toward Khamis Mushait on Saturday. This follows the Sept. 19 Houthi missile-and-drone attack on Riyadh that set a jet-fuel depot ablaze near King Khalid International Airport, triggering flight cancellations and terminal clearances.