Oil Settles Down 9% After Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Open

Oil prices settled down by around 9% on Friday after Iran 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 settled at $90.38, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $83.85. For the week, Brent fell 5.1%, while WTI rose by 13.2%.

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

Around 20 ships were seen moving from the Gulf towards the Strait of Hormuz exit, according to ship-tracking data. Traffic could be halted again in the strait if an agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the lifting of US sanctions remains elusive, analysts said.

Gas

Asia spot liquefied natural gas fell for a fourth straight week, weighed by softer demand and contained geopolitical risk as the US-Iran ceasefire held, despite some spot purchases by South Asian buyers.

The average LNG price for June delivery into northeast Asia was $16.05 per million British thermal units, down from $17.00 per mmBtu the week before.

US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that an agreement to end the Iran war could be reached soon, adding that the next meeting between the two countries could take place over the weekend. In Europe, the Dutch TTF gas price settled at $13.55 per mmBtu, posting a weekly loss of 10.2%. European buyers are increasingly leaning on pipeline gas to balance short positions, while optimising regas capacity and slot usage rather than competing aggressively for prompt LNG cargoes.