U.S. Oil Prices Jump Nearly 5% on Trump's Comments About Iran Talks
U.S. oil prices jumped nearly 5% Monday after President Donald Trump told CNBC he does not care if talks with Iran come to an end, stoking market fears that negotiations will collapse.
West Texas Intermediate futures rose nearly 5% to $91.53 per barrel by 1:57 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude advanced nearly 4% to $94.66 per barrel.
Trump was responding to an Iranian state media report that Tehran will halt talks with the U.S. in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Iran will completely close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, state media said.
"I really don't care. I couldn't care less," Trump told CNBC's Eamon Javers in a phone interview when asked whether negotiations are over. "I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring."
Oil prices eased after Trump subsequently said on social media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Israeli troops will not advance to Lebanon's capital Beirut. The president then posted that talks "are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."
U.S. crude prices spiked more than 8% earlier in the session. Trump told CNBC he wasn't worried about rising oil prices.
"I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance," Trump said.
Iran threatens tighter blockade
The U.S. and Iran launched fresh strikes and Israel ordered troops to push deeper into Lebanon over the weekend, renewing concerns that a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran will collapse.
Iran is demanding that Israel halt attacks in Gaza and withdraw from occupied areas in Lebanon for talks with the U.S. to resume, according to the state-affiliated news agency Tasnim.
Tehran will completely block Hormuz and open other fronts including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Tasnim reported. Bab el-Mandeb is a trade chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Brent and WTI closed off by 11.1% and 9.6% last week, respectively, notching their worst weekly performance since mid-April on hopes the U.S. and Iran were making progress toward a deal. The contracts remain up more than 30% since the U.S. and Israeli-led war against Iran started on Feb. 28.
