Oil prices climb 3% after Trump says he does not want to extend Iran ceasefire

NEW YORK: Oil prices ​climbed about 3% on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not want to extend a soon-to-expire ceasefire in the Iran ‌war and that the U.S. military was “raring to go” if negotiations do not succeed.

Brent futures rose $2.48, or 2.6%, to $97.96 a barrel at 11:58 a.m. EDT (1558 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude delivery rose $3.54, or 4.0%, to $93.15.

The U.S. military said it seized a tanker linked to Iran in international waters, its latest apparent action to enforce a blockade.

Shipping traffic ​through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, remained broadly halted on Tuesday ​with only three ships passing the waterway in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed.

The European Union will provide guidance ⁠to airlines on how to handle issues such as airport slots, passenger rights and public service obligations in the event of jet fuel shortages ​because of the Iran war, the bloc’s transport chief said.

German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, opens new tab said supplies of jet fuel are not in danger as refineries adapt ​to increased demand, but added the government is monitoring the situation.

RUSSIAN SUPPLIES

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, however, said the Druzhba oil pipeline pumping Russian oil to Europe is ready to resume operations, signaling that Ukraine now expects a 90 billion euro aid package to be unblocked.

But three industry sources said Russia is set to stop oil exports from Kazakhstan to ​Germany via the Druzhba pipeline starting from May 1.

Elsewhere in Russia, Ukrainian drones struck an oil-pumping and dispatch facility in Russia’s Samara region overnight.

In Germany, ​the biggest economy in Europe, investor morale declined to its lowest level in more than three years in April as businesses started to feel the economic consequences of the ‌Iran war ⁠far beyond price increases, the ZEW economic research institute said.

In the United States, retail sales increased more than expected in March as the war boosted gasoline prices and led to a record surge in receipts at service stations, while tax refunds underpinned spending elsewhere.

Petro Hurin was among hundreds of thousands sent to clean up the Chornobyl site in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Trump’s Federal Reserve chief nominee Kevin Warsh called for “regime change” at the U.S. central bank that would include a new “framework” for controlling inflation and a possible overhaul of how it communicates with the ​public about monetary policy.

Trump told CNBC that ​he would be disappointed if ⁠Warsh did not cut interest rates right away once he took office after being approved by the Senate.

Analysts worry that involving more politics in interest rate decisions could reduce the Fed’s ability to control inflation. Trump wants the Fed ​to cut rates, which would reduce consumer costs and could boost economic growth and demand for oil.

US ​OIL INVENTORIES

Those crude price ⁠increases came as the market waited for direction from weekly storage reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group later on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Analysts projected that energy firms pulled 1.8 million barrels of crude from storage during the week ended April 17.

If correct, that would be the ⁠first time ​energy firms pulled crude out of storage for two weeks in a row since February, ​and compares with an increase of 0.2 million barrels in the same week last year and a decline of 3.7 million barrels over the past five years (2021-2025). ,