Oil slipped as President Donald Trump pushed for lower prices and fears faded that the conflict with Iran would immediately disrupt supplies from the Middle East.
West Texas Intermediate slid about 1% to trade near $73 a barrel after initially surging as much as 6.2%. Trump warned against rising oil prices in a social media post, urging the Department of Energy to facilitate more drilling ânow.â Energy Secretary Chris Wright replied, âWeâre on it.â
Crudeâs gains had begun fading even before Trumpâs post as concerns waned that Iran would interfere with energy flows in retaliation for U.S. air attacks over the weekend that targeted its nuclear sites.
Tehran warned earlier that the strikes would trigger âeverlasting consequences,â and Reuters reported that the U.S. sees a high risk of a strike back against U.S. forces soon.
âTraders are holding their breath, waiting to see if Israel or Iran expand this conflict beyond military and political targets into traded energy,â Bob McNally, founder of Rapidan Energy Advisers LLC and a former White House energy official, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
âSo far, no one has pulled that trigger.â
The oil market has been gripped by an escalating crisis since Israel attacked Iran more than a week ago, with crude benchmarks pushing higher, options volumes spiking, and the futures curve shifting to reflect fears of a near-term interruption to supplies.
The Middle East accounts for about a third of global crude production, but there havenât yet been any signs of disruption to physical oil flows, including for cargoes going through the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint. Since Israelâs attacks began, there have been signs that Iranian oil shipments out of the Gulf have risen rather than declined.
Bob McNally, Rapidan Energy Group president, says it would be âsuicidalâ for Iran to completely close the Strait of Hormuz, but he says the country can disrupt the flow of oil in other ways.
The unprecedented U.S. strikes were meant to hobble Iranâs nuclear program, and targeted sites at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. At the United Nations on Sunday, Tehranâs Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the âtiming, nature and scaleâ of its response âwill be decided by its armed forces.â
There remain multiple, overlapping risks for crude flows. The biggest of those centers on the Strait of Hormuz, should Tehran seek to retaliate by attempting to close the narrow conduit. About a fifth of the worldâs crude output passes through the waterway at the entrance to the Persian Gulf.
Two supertankers U-turned away from the strait on Sunday, before subsequently resuming on their original course and heading to transit the chokepoint.
Iranâs parliament has called for the closure of the strait, according to state-run TV. Such a move, however, couldnât proceed without the approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Authorities may yet restrict flows in other ways.
Navies in the region have consistently warned about an elevated threat to tankers, though a liaison between the military and shipping said on Sunday that the continued passage of vessels through the Strait is âa positive sign for the immediate future.â
âBase case remains that we donât see significant disruptions, neither of oil nor natural gas in the Middle East,â Daan Struyven, head of oil research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in a Bloomberg TV interview. âWe actually have energy prices gradually declining.â
Rival suppliers
Itâs not just crude markets being roiled by the the threats to supply. Diesel futures in Europe also surged at the open, touching the equivalent of almost $110 a barrel, before erasing those gains. The Middle East is a significant supplier of barrels to the region.
The crisis will also throw a spotlight onto the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia. In recent months, OPEC+ eased supply curbs at a rapid clip to regain market share, and yet members still have substantial idled capacity that could be reactivated.
U.S. crudeâs prompt spread â the difference between its two nearest contracts â first widened to as much as $2.24 a barrel in a bullish backwardation structure, from $1.18 on Friday. The closely followed metric then retraced much of that move.
âIt may take a few days or even weeks to discern the Iranian response to this unprecedented attack,â RBC Capital Markets LLC analysts including Helima Croft said in a note. âAbove all, we would caution against the knee-jerk âthe worst is behind usâ hot-take at this stage.â