On March 12, 2026 in Muscat, Oman, the tanker Kalisto is anchored in Port Sultan Qaboos as traffic is backed up in the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.
Benoît Tessier | Reuters
Oil prices rose on Monday as US President Donald Trump warned Iran “better move” amid stalled peace talks, while experts said inventories were at record lows.
international benchmark brent crude oil July futures rose 1.98% to $111.42 per barrel. us West Texas Intermediate Futures In June, the price rose 2.43% to $107.98 per barrel, the highest price this month.
US President Donald Trump’s warning to Iran over the weekend suggests that the impasse between Washington and Tehran over the peace deal and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz could lead to a resumption of armed conflict.
“For Iran, the clock is ticking. We better move fast or there will be nothing left,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, adding, “Time is of the essence!”
brent crude oil
Although a fragile ceasefire was reached in April, tensions between Iran and the United States continue, with Iran keeping the Hormuz waterway largely shut and the Trump administration continuing to blockade Iranian ports.
Before the war, nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies flowed through the strait.
The International Energy Agency warned in its latest monthly update that global oil stocks are falling at a record pace as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. “As the turmoil continues, buffers are shrinking rapidly, which could foreshadow future price increases,” the IEA said.
If oil demand remains the same month-on-month, inventories will approach a record low of 7.6 billion barrels by the end of May, according to a report released last week by Swiss bank UBS.
—CNBC’s Garrett Downs and Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
