Oil/Chemical Tanker “Bald Man” in the Port of Fujairah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran restricts maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2026.
Amr Alfiky Reuters
Oil prices rose on Thursday in volatile trading as investors continued to assess recent developments in the Middle East amid concerns about renewed tensions between Iran and the US.
An international benchmark Brent July crude futures gained 0.91% to $102.19 a barrel. In the US West Texas Intermediate June futures rose 1.23% to $96.25 per barrel.
Scott Chronert, equity strategist at Citi US, said the period of conflict will affect the broader economy.
“The timing and interpretation of high oil prices for a long time is a big deal as it relates to expectations for future growth in many parts of the market, and how it influences the Fed’s thinking about interest rate moves,” Chronert said on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Despite reports that Washington and Tehran are nearing a deal to end the war, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran will be bombed “at a very high level” if it does not agree to a peace deal, raising market concerns that Iran-US talks to end the war remain fragile.
The future of oil
The U.S. military offensive, known as Operation Epic Fury, will “end” if Iran “agrees to give what was agreed upon, possibly, a lot of thought,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
If that happens, the blockade of US warships in Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman “will allow the Strait of Hormuz to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran,” Trump wrote.
However, Trump added that “if they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, unfortunately, at a much higher level and intensity than before.”
Trump’s comments come after an Axios report that the US and Iran were close to a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding that would end the war and establish a framework for further negotiations.
After Trump’s Public Truth statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters on Wednesday that Tehran is still reviewing the proposal and will present its response to Pakistani negotiators.
In an X post published after Trump’s Public Truth statement, Baqaei appeared to be quoting the International Court of Justice, writing, “The concept of ‘negotiations’ requires, at a minimum, a genuine attempt to engage in negotiations with the aim of resolving the dispute (ICJ, Judgment of 1 April 2011, paragraph 157).
“It requires ‘good faith’ meaning that ‘negotiations’ are not ‘arguments’; nor are they ‘summons’, ‘deceit’, ‘fraud’ or ‘coercion,'” Baqaei wrote.
Marc Sievers, the former US Ambassador to Oman, said on CNBC’s “Access to the Middle East” on Wednesday that the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was “an immediate focus.”
“Right now the focus is on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, allowing all this international trade and energy to flow smoothly, tankers full of oil and other things blocked, and that there will be no toll imposed by the IRGC of Iran on tankers to pass through,” he said.
– CNBC’s Chloe Taylor and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report
