Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel on Wednesday (March 18, 2026) to pare some of Tuesday's (March 17, 2026) sharp gains after the Iraqi government and Kurdish authorities reached a deal to resume oil exports via Turkiye's Ceyhan port, providing modest relief to concerns about supplies from West Asia.
But with no signs of a de-escalation of the Iran conflict, which has left oil exports from West Asia largely halted, Brent futures prices have settled above $100 per barrel for the prior four consecutive sessions. After rising more than 3% on Tuesday, Brent futures retreated $2.26, or 2.19%, to $101.16 a barrel by 0429 GMT on Wednesday. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $2.99, or 3.11%, to $93.22.
Why the closure of Strait of Hormuz is causing fears about elevating crude oil prices
Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said oil flows from Ceyhan were expected to start at 07.00 GMT on Wednesday, according to state media. Two oil officials said last week that Iraq was seeking to pump at least 1,00,000 barrels per day of crude through the port.
"The news provided some relief to the market. Any additional volume finding its way back to the market is valuable under the current situation, so prices moved down to reflect that," said LSEG senior analyst Anh Pham.
