THE PRICE OF benchmark oil for May delivery has fallen to almost $102 a barrel after positive indications from the opening of negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, Brent crude for May delivery is down 60 cents to $120.58 a barrel today.

Officials from Iran met with representatives from the US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany in Turkey at the weekend in an effort to ease international concerns over Tehran’s nuclear development programme.

Despite concerns that it may lead to its development of nuclear weapons, Iran insists the programme is solely focused on energy production. Those concerns have seen a range of international sanctions imposed on Iran.

Speaking after the negotiations opened in Istanbul,  EU foreign police chief Catherine Ashton described the talks as “constructive and useful, reflecting the terms and the spirit of our recent exchange of letters with Iran”.

“We expect that subsequent meetings will lead to concrete steps towards a comprehensive negotiated solution which restores international confidence in the exclusively-peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme,” she continued.

Further discussions will be held in Baghdad late next month.

- Additional reporting by the AP