Both contracts have surged about 40% during the U.S.-Iran war
Oil prices fall as Trump pressures allies to help protect tankers in Strait of Hormuz
Oil prices fell on Monday as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on allies to help safeguard the Strait of Hormuz and as investors react to threats facing Middle East export facilities.
International benchmark Brent crude futures with May delivery traded 1.34% lower at $101.76 per barrel, erasing earlier gains, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with April delivery fell 4.11% to $94.65. U.S. crude had surpassed $100 earlier in the session.
Both contracts have surged about 40% during the U.S.-Iran war, reaching their highest levels since 2022, as shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted. Brent closed above $100 for the first time in four years last week.
The latest moves come shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway is a critical energy choke point that typically carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil.
“The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we’ve let that happen to supply the rest of the world,” Bessent told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he was demanding other countries help to protect the key maritime corridor, adding that he was in conversation with several allies about securing the strait.
Trump also told NBC News in an interview published Saturday that U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island “totally demolished” most of the island but that “we may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
The U.S. president ordered strikes Friday against Iranian military assets on Kharg Island. Trump said the strikes had left oil infrastructure unscathed. But he warned that the U.S. would consider hitting crude facilities on the island if Iran continued to attack tankers in the critical Strait of Hormuz.
