On March 31, 2026, a tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas in northwestern Cuba. (Photo courtesy of Yamil LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Oil prices were volatile on Wednesday amid uncertainty over the fate of the U.S.-Iranian conflict, with President Donald Trump extending a fragile ceasefire with Iran but suggesting tensions are still far from resolved.
international benchmark brent crude oil and the usa west texas intermediate After falling earlier in the day, futures were back in positive territory by 4:52 a.m. ET. Brent for June delivery was last trading 0.6% higher at $99.02 a barrel, while WTI futures rose 0.5% to settle at $90.12.
President Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would extend a temporary truce with Iran beyond a previously set deadline, citing the “deeply divisive political situation” in the country.
In a post on Truth Social, he said the ceasefire will remain in place until Iranian leaders present a unified proposal to end hostilities with the United States and Israel. In the meantime, the US will continue to blockade Iranian ports.
The extension of the ceasefire underscores the uncertainty of the path to easing tensions. While the move delayed the risk of an imminent military attack, it also highlighted deep rifts within Iran’s leadership and the lack of a clear diplomatic breakthrough.
Oil prices rose early Tuesday after it was revealed that Vice President J.D. Vance did not depart for Pakistan, where peace talks with Iran were supposed to resume.
However, Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that Tehran’s negotiators, through a Pakistani intermediary, had informed their US negotiators that they would not attend further negotiations.
Tasnim news agency reported that “Iran finally announced today that it is a waste of time to engage in negotiations under these circumstances, as it prevents the United States from reaching a suitable agreement.”
An Iranian diplomat later told The Associated Press that the Iranian government “is not going to negotiate under duress.” He said the United States needed to lift the blockade as a precondition for further talks.
Russ Mold, investment director at AJ Bell, said in a note Wednesday that President Trump’s mixed messages and his insistence that the U.S. lockdown will continue means investors are “still playing a guessing game.”
“Iran’s indications that it will not participate in today’s talks in Pakistan and the attack on a container ship off the coast of Oman are adding to the fog of uncertainty,” Mordo said. “While oil prices are currently below this level, tipping into alarm territory above $100 per barrel, they still speak to the woes of the global energy market.”
