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Oil was slightly higher after plunging more than 11% Tuesday, as traders expect a group of countries to tap emergency crude reserves to mitigate disruption caused by the war in the Middle East. The sharp drop came despite aggressive rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about attacking Iran, with Hegseth saying Tuesday “will be our most intense day of strikes.”
U.S. crude oil and Brent crude tumbled more than 17% before paring some losses after U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on Tuesday falsely claimed on X that the U.S. Navy had escorted a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The post was subsequently deleted, and confirmed to be wrong by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. West Texas Intermediate Crude was last up 0.35% at $83.76 a barrel, while Brent crude was flat at $87.8 a barrel.
U.S. stocks ended the day mixed as traders weighed the pullback in oil prices against the risk of further escalation. Sentiment was also dented by a CBS News report indicating Iran may be moving toward deploying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
