Oil edges lower after Trump says US will help ships in Strait of Hormuz

KARACHI: Oil prices moved slightly lower on Monday after US President Donald Trump said Washington would begin efforts to help vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, though the absence of a US-Iran peace agreement kept crude above $100 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $108.11 a barrel by 0400 GMT, after settling $2.23 lower on Friday. US West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $101.50 a barrel, down 44 cents, or 0.4%, following a $3.13 decline in the previous session.

Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Phillip Nova, said the market continued to draw support from supply concerns and geopolitical risks.

Trump said on Sunday that the United States would help guide ships safely out of the Strait of Hormuz. Even so, oil remained above the $100 mark, with no peace accord in sight and shipping through the key waterway still restricted.

Talks between Washington and Tehran continued over the weekend, with both sides reviewing each other’s responses. Trump has made a nuclear agreement with Iran a priority, but Iran wants nuclear negotiations postponed until after the war and has said rival blockades on Gulf shipping must first be lifted.

Separately, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, said on Sunday that seven member states would raise oil output targets by 188,000 barrels per day in June. It was the third straight monthly increase.

The June increase matches the rise agreed for May, excluding the share previously allocated to the United Arab Emirates, which left OPEC on May 1.

However, the additional supply is expected to remain mostly nominal as long as the war with Iran continues to disrupt Gulf oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping constraints keep market supported

The Strait of Hormuz remains central to market sentiment, with traders watching whether any progress in US-Iran contacts can ease disruptions to energy shipments. Trump’s announcement of US assistance for stranded ships offered some relief to prices, but the continuing constraints on maritime traffic and the lack of a broader settlement limited the decline.

The market response reflected a balance between expectations of possible intervention to support shipping and ongoing concern over supply interruptions in the Gulf. With negotiations still unresolved and transport through the strait not yet back to normal, crude prices remained elevated despite the day’s modest losses.