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Oil Falls by 13% After Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Open

Hafnia Lillesand, a crude oil and product tanker, sits at Viva Energy Australia's Gore Bay fuel terminal overlooking the city skyline in Sydney, Australia April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Hafnia Lillesand, a crude oil and product tanker, sits at Viva Energy Australia's Gore Bay fuel terminal overlooking the city skyline in Sydney, Australia April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Oil Falls by 13% After Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Open

Hafnia Lillesand, a crude oil and product tanker, sits at Viva Energy Australia's Gore Bay fuel terminal overlooking the city skyline in Sydney, Australia April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Hafnia Lillesand, a crude oil and product tanker, sits at Viva Energy Australia's Gore Bay fuel terminal overlooking the city skyline in Sydney, Australia April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Oil prices plunged by about 13% on Friday after Iran's foreign minister said passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was open for the remaining ceasefire period and US President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed to never close the strait again.

Brent crude futures fell $12.87, or 12.95%, to $86.52 a barrel by 10:50 a.m. EDT (1450 GMT), after falling to a session low of $86.09. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $13.50, or 14.26%, at $81.19 a barrel, after touching $80.56.

Both contracts were trading at ‌their lowest since ‌March 10, and set for their largest daily declines ‌since ⁠April 8.

Iranian Foreign ⁠Minister Abbas Araqchi said the Strait of Hormuz was open following the agreement of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

"Comments from Iran's foreign minister indicate a de-escalation as long as the ceasefire is in place, now we need to see if the number of tankers crossing the Strait increases substantially," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS

The US and Iran have made progress in the negotiations over a three-page memorandum of understanding to ⁠end the war, according to an Axios reporter on X.

Prices had ‌already fallen earlier in the session as ‌possible further talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend and a 10-day ceasefire ‌between Lebanon and Israel raised investors' hopes the war in the Middle East ‌could be nearing an end.

Addressing a sticking point in talks, Trump said Tehran had offered to not possess nuclear weapons for more than 20 years.

"We're going to see what happens. But I think we're very close to making a deal with Iran," Trump told reporters ‌outside the White House on Thursday.

Trump also said on Friday that the United States has banned Israel from further bombing ⁠in Lebanon, using ⁠a harsher tone than usual with the longtime US ally.

Shortly after the announcement that the strait was open, a US official told Reuters that a military blockade of Iran involving more than 10,000 personnel remains in effect.

While the opening up of the strait was a step in the right direction, the European market would remain tight for a while, analyst Ole Hvalbye at SEB Research said, since it takes roughly 21 days for ships to move from the Gulf to Rotterdam, the main crude port in the region.

Traffic could be halted once again in the strait, if an agreement about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and lifting the US sanctions remains elusive, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates.

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India Turns to Latin American, African Oil After Hormuz Disruption

A worker holds a nozzle to pump fuel in a vehicle at a petrol pump in New Delhi, India, May 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A worker holds a nozzle to pump fuel in a vehicle at a petrol pump in New Delhi, India, May 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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India Turns to Latin American, African Oil After Hormuz Disruption

A worker holds a nozzle to pump fuel in a vehicle at a petrol pump in New Delhi, India, May 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A worker holds a nozzle to pump fuel in a vehicle at a petrol pump in New Delhi, India, May 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Indian refiners turned to imports from Latin America and Africa after supplies from the Middle East were disrupted as the Israeli-US war on Iran restricted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, data provided by trade sources show.

Refiners in the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer bought most of their crude from the nearby Middle East until the war broke out at the end of February.

In April and May, Indian refiners raised imports ‌from Venezuela, Brazil, Angola ‌and Nigeria to make up the shortfall, as well ‌as ⁠continuing to buy ⁠Russian oil, preliminary data from Kpler show.

Last month, India skipped purchases from Iraq as exports were halted, while it received Iranian oil after a gap of seven years following a temporary waiver granted by Washington to help stabilize global oil prices.

New Delhi reduced imports from Russia by about 29.4% from March to 1.6 million barrels per day as Nayara Energy shut its 400,000-bpd ⁠refinery for maintenance, the data showed.

However, in May, ‌India is due to get about ‌1.9 million bpd of Russian oil and about 41,000 bpd of Iraqi oil, preliminary data ‌from Kpler showed.

Overall, India imported 4.57 million bpd oil in ‌April, unchanged from March, but down 15.5% from a year earlier, the data showed.

Imports from the United Arab Emirates rebounded in April to 669,700 bpd from 230,600 bpd in March while intake of Saudi Arabian oil stayed at about 619,500 bpd, ‌the data showed.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only Gulf producers with pipelines that export crude bypassing ⁠the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, while Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and Bahrain rely on the waterway for shipments.

The share of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including the UAE as its member during the month, in India's imports rose to 45.2% in April from about 30% in March, the data showed. The UAE exited OPEC in May.

Higher imports from the UAE helped arrest a decline in the Middle East's share of India's imports, while the share of Russian oil declined to about 35% from nearly 50%.

Russia remained India's top oil supplier, followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Brazil was the fourth-largest supplier, while Venezuela ranked fifth. Venezuela is on course to become the fourth-largest supplier in May, Kpler data showed.

Business

Asian Shares Mostly Gain and Oil Prices Fall After Trump Says Peace Talks on Iran War Are Proceeding

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
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Asian Shares Mostly Gain and Oil Prices Fall After Trump Says Peace Talks on Iran War Are Proceeding

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)

Asian shares mostly rose Monday and oil prices plunged after US President Donald Trump said talks on ending the war with Iran are progressing.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.8% to 65,130.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 8,692.00. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% to 4,143.97.

Trading was closed in South Korea and Hong Kong for local holidays. Markets will be closed in the US on Monday for Memorial Day.

Trump said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner.” Meanwhile, regional officials told The Associated Press on Sunday that the United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium,

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz will help decide the direction of oil prices. The closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide. Japan, for instance, imports almost all its oil, most of it through the strait.

“Markets are rapidly transitioning from pricing geopolitical fear toward pricing a potential peace dividend as Hormuz reopening expectations pressure oil and the dollar lower,” analyst Stephen Innes said in a commentary.

Early Monday, benchmark US crude was down $5.52 at $91.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, sank $5.56 to $97.08 a barrel.

In currency trading, the US dollar declined to 158.91 Japanese yen from 159.16 yen. The euro cost $1.1639, up from $1.1605.

Friday on Wall Street, stocks finished their eighth straight winning week, the best such streak since 2023. That’s even though a survey showed US consumers are feeling even worse about the economy than before.

The S&P 500 added 0.4% and pulled closer to its all-time high set in the middle of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%.

Recent earnings reports from US companies that topped analysts’ expectations also helped markets. But worries about inflation have pushed bond yields higher worldwide.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.56% Friday from 4.57% late Thursday, but it remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

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Vessels Carrying Middle East Oil, LNG Exit Hormuz, Head for Pakistan, China

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Vessels Carrying Middle East Oil, LNG Exit Hormuz, Head for Pakistan, China

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Two liquefied natural gas tankers are exiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, heading to ‌Pakistan and China, while a supertanker with Iraqi crude for China left the Gulf on Saturday after being stranded for nearly three months, shipping data showed.

The US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28 has severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world's supply of oil and LNG normally flows.

The vessels are among a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route ⁠that Iran has ordered ships to use. Last week, three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) made their way to China and South Korea with 6 million barrels of crude, according to Reuters.

LNG tanker Fuwairit is crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and is expected to discharge its cargo in Pakistan on Tuesday, shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed. The vessel, sailing under the Bahamas flag, loaded LNG at Qatar's Ras Laffan port around March 28.

Separately, the VLCC Eagle Verona, which exited the strait on Saturday, is expected to reach Ningbo port in eastern China on June 12 to discharge its cargo, ⁠shipping data on LSEG and Kpler showed.

The Singaporean-flagged vessel chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner, Sinopec, loaded nearly 2 million barrels of Basrah crude around February 26, according to the data.

The Eagle Verona was among seven ships Malaysia had sought ⁠permission from Iran to transit, two sources earlier told Reuters. Five of the ships have since exited the waterway, while two more remain in the Gulf.

Before the war began, shipping traffic through the strait averaged 125 to 140 daily passages. Some 20,000 seafarers remain stranded inside the Gulf on board hundreds of ships.