Crude prices climbed after President Donald Trump signaled that diplomatic efforts with Iran are running out of runway, pushing Brent crude near $105 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate to roughly $99.
Trump described the ceasefire as being on “massive life support” and called Iran’s response to recent proposals unacceptable.
What Trump actually said, and why oil cares
The Strait of Hormuz sits at the center of this anxiety. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through that narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Any escalation between Washington and Tehran raises the probability that tanker traffic through Hormuz could face threats, whether from direct military action, proxy interference, or the kind of ambiguous maritime incidents that have a way of happening when tensions spike in the Persian Gulf.
The market’s risk calculus
