Oil ticks up, Brent briefly hits $92 after Trump says no talks ongoing with Iran

Oil prices ticked up on Tuesday, extending weekly gains, after President Donald Trump said no talks were ongoing with Iran a day after an interim peace agreement between the two sides expired. Supply disruption fears remained elevated after the United Arab Emirates said it had detected two Iranian missiles targeting maritime navigation.

At 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT), Brent crude futures expiring in October, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.4% to $91.27 a barrel, after earlier hitting $92 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures expiring in October climbed 0.8% to $84.39, after earlier touching $85.01 a barrel. Both contracts are already up more than 2% for the week.

"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated," Trump said on his Truth Social service on Tuesday.

The U.S. president on Monday told reporters that an ongoing American naval blockade of Iran’s ports gave Washington control over the Strait of Hormuz, continuing a trend of both sides independently asserting dominance over the vital waterway. Trump also said he would not extend the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran after it expired. It had been initially inked in mid-June, but quickly collapsed in July.  

Trump’s Tuesday comment about no talks came shortly after an earlier post with an image portraying the strait as a territory of the U.S. Kazem Gharibabadi, a top Iranian official, said on social media that Trump’s "delusion" regarding the strait would "be corrected."

Iran has also denied any negotiations with the U.S., instead demanding that Washington fulfill conditions such as ceasing hostilities across all fronts and unfreezing Iranian assets before the strait can be reopened. Iran has separately been working on a framework for management of the strait with Oman, and Trump on Monday warned of possible military action against Oman if it interfered with U.S. efforts to reach a deal with Tehran. 

Traffic through the strategic chokepoint has dwindled, with Kpler data showing confirmed crossings sliding to just three on Sunday. Overall crossings last week weakened 19.5% to 95, Kpler said. Prior to the start of the war, more than 130 ships traversed the strait every day. The threat of Iranian attacks has largely dissuaded ships from going through the corridor.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency on Tuesday said a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile as it was transiting outbound in the strait, resulting in damage to the vessel’s engine room and a crew casualty. Separately, the United Arab Emirates’ defense ministry said it had detected two ballistic missiles approaching from Iran that fell into the sea.