Oil plunges 15pc amid ‘hopes’ of de-escalation

NEW YORK: Oil prices plunged by about 15 per cent on Tuesday, a day after soaring to their highest levels since 2022, pressured after US President Donald Trump predicted the war with Iran could end soon, which should minimise oil supply disruptions.

Brent futures fell $14.23, or 14.5pc, to $84.73 a barrel at 2:01pm EDT (1801 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $14.46, or 15.5pc, to $80.31.

Prices were even lower at midday, after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright wrote on X that the American military had facilitated a shipment of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz.

“President Trump is maintaining stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran,” Wright posted at 1:02pm local time before the post appeared to be removed.

“The US Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets,” Wright said.

Trump’s Republicans will soon be campaigning to retain control of US Congress in November midterm elections, with many voters worried about rising energy prices.

This is the market reacting to the possibility that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen,” said Andrew Lipow, founder of Lipow Oil Associates. “From the administrations perspective, the move also carries clear optics: lower oil and gasoline prices help ease consumer pain.” On Monday, both crude benchmarks surged to a session high above $119 a barrel, their highest since June 2022, as supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and other producers stoked fears of major disruptions to global supplies. Prices settled with more modest gains on Monday, then retreated in late trade and into Tuesday after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call and shared proposals aimed at a quick settlement to the war, according to a Kremlin aide. In addition, Trump said on Monday in a CBS News interview that he thought the war against Iran was “very complete” and Washington was “very far ahead” of his initial four- to five-week estimated time frame.

“Clearly Trump’s comments about a short-lived war have calmed markets. While there was an overreaction to the upside yesterday, we think there is an overreaction to the downside today,” said Suvro Sarkar, energy sector team lead at DBS Bank.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026