U.S. oil slips below $100 as Trump demands reopening of Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices dipped slightly on Friday amid persistent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery traded 0.4% lower to $97.50 per barrel after passing $100 earlier in the session. International benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery fell 0.5% to $95.47 per barrel.

President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran to “stop now” if it was charging tankers to transit the strait, a move that risks undermining a two-week ceasefire agreement that was contingent on reopening the waterway.

Shipping flows through the chokepoint, which handled about 20% of global oil supply before the war, remained severely restricted, keeping markets on edge. Reports Friday indicated that most ships going through the strait in the past day were linked to Iran.

“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Thursday that getting even one oil tanker across the strait would provide a “huge chunk of what’s missing.”

Adrian Beciri, CEO of DUCAT Maritime, a Cyprus-based logistics firm specializing in dry bulk, said the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and the behavioural attitudes of shipowners and operators are “exactly the same today” as they had been at the peak of the conflict.

“Quite frankly speaking, the situation is extremely chaotic. There is no known or established way to transit the Straits of Hormuz. There is even not a clear way to contact the Iranians on how to do it, which seems to be the only way at the moment,” Beciri told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Friday.

“The few vessels that have are following different routes then they have historically. They are following a route closer to the coastline of Iran and the sums of money I’m hearing from shipowners off the record are quite frankly ridiculous,” he added.