Oil Prices Drop Near $80 as Iran Deal Hopes Rise; BP Sells US Biogas Unit

Crude oil prices extended losses Tuesday, with ICE Brent falling back to around $80 per barrel, according to OilPrice.com. The drop followed comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Qatar’s Foreign Ministry signaling progress on a potential draft agreement between the U.S. and Iran, buoying hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

The price decline coincides with renewed political scrutiny on oil company profits. President Donald Trump criticized U.S. refiners, specifically calling out ExxonMobil and Chevron for making "too much money" and ordering them to lower retail fuel prices. The average U.S. gasoline pump price was $4.08 per gallon as of August 4, up 30% from a year ago, OilPrice.com reported.

In corporate moves, BP announced it will offload its U.S. biogas business, Archaea, which it acquired for $4.1 billion in 2022. The sale is part of a broader restructuring under new CEO Meg O'Neill to focus on assets that "deliver competitive returns and long-term value," according to OilPrice.com. This follows BP's recent completion of the divestment of its Gelsenkirchen refinery in Germany.

BP's strategic shift back towards core oil and gas comes after it reported a surge in second-quarter profits to $5.7 billion, capitalizing on volatile prices from the Middle East conflict. The company's oil production and operations profit climbed to $3.4 billion, from $1.7 billion the prior quarter.

In other global industry news, Shell has agreed to sell its European onshore renewables portfolio to TotalEnergies, and Azerbaijan's SOCAR bought out a Japanese partner's stake in a major offshore field. Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery is reportedly planning a major initial public offering for October.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Defense canceled a tender to buy up to $300 million worth of lithium carbonate for the national strategic stockpile. The Defense Logistics Agency scrapped the solicitation entirely on August 3, 2026, which OilPrice.com reported as a potential sign of administration struggles to stockpile critical minerals at fixed prices.

For Bakken operators, the dip in benchmark crude prices, driven by geopolitical diplomacy, introduces near-term price headwinds. However, the continued focus by major operators like BP on high-return oil and gas operations, coupled with sustained refining margins, underscores the ongoing value of core hydrocarbon production. The political focus on fuel costs and corporate profits adds a layer of regulatory and public relations uncertainty to the market environment.