Oil prices flat as Trump’s plan for Strait of Hormuz fails to calm market

Oil prices are largely unmoved following United States President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was essentially flat on Monday morning, as traders saw little hope of Trump’s plans resolving the biggest energy disruption in history.

Brent futures for July stood at $108.25 as of 02:30 GMT, up by 0.08 percent.

Trump said on Sunday that the US would “help free up” vessels stranded in the Gulf from Monday, but offered few details on how the operation, dubbed “Project Freedom”, would work.

Trump did not specify whether the plan would involve escorts by the US Navy, a proposal previously shot down by administration officials, citing a lack of adequate preparations.

Senior Iranian officials have signalled that Tehran will not cooperate with Trump’s plan, casting further uncertainty over the fragile ceasefire in place between the sides since April 7.

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, on Sunday warned that any “American interference” in the strait would be considered a breach of their truce.

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s military said it had received reports of a tanker being struck by “unknown projectiles” off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, hours after a bulk carrier reported being attacked by multiple small craft off Iran.

Neither of the crews involved in the incidents was harmed, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta in Singapore, said Trump’s plans appeared to be geared more towards rescuing stranded seafarers than restoring maritime traffic in the strait.

“Global observable oil inventories are starting to fall sharply, which should weigh on market sentiment more than political statements for a reopening of the strait,” Goh told Al Jazeera.

“Normalising the flow through the Strait of Hormuz will take more than what Project Freedom is offering, whilst the yawning gap in oil supply will take months to resolve.”

A gas price is displayed as a customer holds a fuel pump nozzle before filling up her vehicle’s gas tank at a gas station, in Lincolnshire, Illinois, the United States, on April 15, 2026 [File: Nam Y. Huh/AP]

Iran’s threats against shipping in the Gulf have reduced maritime traffic in the strait to a fraction of peacetime levels, crippling a sizeable portion of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies.