APA Corporation’s Beryl Alpha oil platform in the North Sea.
Provided by: APA Co., Ltd.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was postponing a planned military strike on Iran at the request of key Middle East leaders, allaying fears of an imminent escalation that would disrupt global oil supplies.
international benchmark brent crude oil futures Oil for July delivery fell 1.84% to trade at $110.26 per barrel. of West Texas Intermediate Futures The price fell 0.05% to $108.61 per barrel.
President Trump said on Monday that he had shelved plans for “an attack on Iran scheduled for tomorrow” at the request of the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Crude oil prices since the beginning of the year
Prior to his comments on Truth Social, there had been little public indication that the U.S. government was preparing imminent military action against Iran, effectively ending the fragile ceasefire signed on April 8.
Earlier on Monday, President Trump told the New York Post that Iran knows “what’s going to happen soon,” but did not elaborate.
Axios reported that President Trump is considering new military action after Iran’s latest proposal in talks to end the conflict fell short of expectations.
“We were preparing to launch a very large attack tomorrow,” President Trump said at a White House event later that day.
“I’ve put it off for a while, hopefully forever, but maybe for a little while,” he said. “We’ve had very big talks with Iran, so we’ll see how that goes.”
ING noted that oil markets continue to price in sustained supply disruptions in the Middle East, and hopes that China would broker progress in the recent talks between President Trump and President Xi did not materialize.
Analysts at banking and financial services companies said that although some shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz had resumed, including several crude oil tankers and Iraqi oil shipments bound for Vietnam, flows were still well below normal levels and could deteriorate quickly.
“The ongoing supply disruption means the market must rely as heavily on inventory and alternative supplies as possible,” they wrote.
