Oil prices rise again with little sign of war on Iran ending

Oil prices are spiking again as efforts to resolve the Iran war remain at an impasse, with Tehran continuing to block the Strait of Hormuz and the United States Navy blockading Iranian ports and exports of Iranian crude.

On Friday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 89 cents at $111.29 a barrel by 08:08 GMT, compared with about $65 before the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28. Overall, the Brent benchmark was poised for a 5.7 percent gain over the week, the Reuters news agency reported.

Brent crude futures for June also continued to rise on Thursday, hitting $126.41 a barrel before expiry, marking the highest level since March 2022, Reuters said.

A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire between the US and Iran has been in place since April 8 to allow time for talks but on Thursday evening, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said it was unreasonable to expect quick results, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“Expecting to reach a result in a short time, regardless of who the mediator is, in my opinion, is not very realistic,” he was quoted as saying.

Iran has threatened to strike back if the US renews attacks, including on US assets in neighbouring Gulf countries.

On Friday, United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash wrote in a post on X that no unilateral Iranian arrangements can be trusted or relied upon regarding freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as a result of its “treacherous aggression” against its neighbours.

‘Vital artery’

One-fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are shipped through the strait, which connects Gulf producers to the open ocean, in peacetime.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that if the disruption caused by the closure of the waterway drags on past the middle of the year, global growth is expected to fall, while inflation will rise and tens of millions more people will be pushed into poverty and extreme hunger.

“The longer this vital artery is choked, the harder it will be to reverse the damage,” he told reporters in New York on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a White House official said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump had asked US oil companies to find ways to mitigate the impact of a potentially months-long siege of Iranian ports.

The president and oil executives “discussed the steps President Trump has taken to ⁠alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimise impact on American consumers”, the official said.