Oil rises as Trump reaffirms deadline for striking Iran’s power plants, bridges
Drone view of oil storage containers and facilities of the TotalEnergies refinery at the Leuna Chemical Complex in Leuna, Germany, March 17, 2026.
Annegret Hilse | Reuters
Oil prices rose after US President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure and warned that Iran would be “eliminated overnight” if the leadership of the Islamic Republic does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May rose 0.93% to $113.46 per barrel as of 20:45 ET. Brent crude oil for June delivery rose by approximately 0.54% to $110.36 per barrel.
Brent crude oil prices
On Monday, Trump reiterated his threat that the United States would destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. Tuesday, while also signaling that the Iranian leadership is seriously negotiating.
The closure of the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman has caused a supply shock, causing crude oil, jet fuel, diesel and gasoline prices to rise since the war began on February 28.
“They have until tomorrow,” the President said. “We’ll see what happens now. I can tell you, they’re negotiating, we’re thinking in good faith, we’ll find out. We’re getting help from some incredible countries that want this to end because it affects them, too.”
Reuters reported It was stated that the USA and Iran were discussing a framework plan to end the 5-week conflict, which would allow traffic to start flowing again, as Tehran took a step back against Trump’s pressure to quickly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. vital energy artery.
Iran rejected the US ceasefire proposal and presented its own 10-point plan. axiosInstead of a temporary ceasefire, it includes a permanent cessation of hostilities in the region, a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction.
However, according to the report, changes to reach a ceasefire agreement before the deadline remained weak.
Trump responded to the offer by saying, “They made an important offer. It’s not good enough, but they took a very important step. Let’s see what happens.”
“As the deadline gets closer, he wants to apply even more pressure to get them over the finish line,” said Brain Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is slowly resuming; The average transit was 8 tankers on Monday, compared to less than 2 per day in March. However, this is a fraction of the pre-war levels, where an average of 20 million barrels of crude oil and products will pass through the strait per day in 2025.
