Oil flirts with $110/bbl after Trump signals Iran war escalation in Oil & Companies News 03/04/2026 Oil prices jumped sharply on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to strike Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks, renewing prolonged supply disruption risks. As of 08:26 ET (12:26 GMT), Brent Oil Futures expiring in June climbed 8.2% to $109.41 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures surged around 10% to $110.18 per barrel. Both benchmarks opened modestly lower on Thursday after dropping in the previous session. Trump offers no clear signals on Iran ceasefire timeline President Trump said in a televised speech that the U.S. military will ramp up its operation against Iran in the next two to three weeks, reiterating the need to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,” Trump said. He said that “discussions were ongoing,” but did not specify whether a ceasefire was close. Prices had retreated on Wednesday and early Thursday after Trump told reporters that the U.S. could leave Iran within “two to three weeks,” even without a formal agreement. Before his speech, Trump said in a social media post that Iran’s “new regime president” had requested a ceasefire, suggesting a possible opening for negotiations. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied the claim, with state media reporting on Wednesday that Tehran had not sought a truce. “We continue to see near-term risk to the upside for oil and gas prices, as long as we do not have visibility on a meaningful resumption of flows via Hormuz,” UBS analysts led by Henri Patricot said in a note. UBS estimates global oil inventories have likely fallen to their five-year average as of end-March, and could drop below the bottom of the historical range by end-April if disruptions persist. The bank expects prices to rise further this month, potentially exceeding $150 a barrel “if there is no improvement in sight.” Strait of Hormuz risks remain Investors were still uncertain about efforts to curb supply disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments. The waterway remains effectively disrupted, with no clear indication of when flows could normalize, raising fears of prolonged supply constraints On the supply side, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude inventories rose by about 5.5 million barrels in the week ended March 27, exceeding expectations for a modest build. Source: Investing.com 2026-04-03 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share