A now-deleted White House social media post sent oil prices briefly lower — just after U.S. intelligence said there were signs that Iran could seriously resume drilling in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s daily oil supply.
A deleted message and Whipsaw market
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on social media that the US Navy had safely escorted an oil tanker through the strait, a claim that briefly calmed markets and sent oil prices lower.
White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt later confirmed that the news was false. Wright deleted it. Oil went up again.
The episode rattled an already volatile market and drew a sharp rebuke from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who accused Washington of spreading false information to prop up oil prices.
“It doesn’t protect them from the tsunami of inflation they’ve inflicted on Americans,” Argchi said.
The intelligence that led to the price spike came from CBS White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs, who reported that US intelligence assets had detected signs of Iranian mine-laying activity in the strait.
The price of a barrel of Brent oil rose to $82 after a one-day decline. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, rose above $80 after hitting $77 in the previous session.
Both were still down significantly on the day, but the pace of the recovery showed how sensitive traders are to any supply threat at this point.
Trump warned that an unprecedented military response Vs. Iran
US President Donald Trump escalated the conflict in a Truth Social message and ordered Iran to immediately remove any mines located in the strait.
“If, on the other hand, they remove what may be deployed, that would be a huge step in the right direction,” Trump wrote. He warned that failure to comply would result in military consequences of a level he said was “unprecedented”.
The warning came a day after Trump had already drawn a hard line on the waterway, vowing a “twenty times stronger” response if Iran moved to stop shipping there.
Image: Investing News Network
Iran’s foreign minister claimed that the markets do not fully estimate the scale of the possible supply shock.
“The markets are facing the biggest shortfall in history – bigger than the Arab oil embargo, the Islamic revolution in Iran and the invasion of Kuwait,” Arahchi wrote.
Data from Bloomberg showed that Hormuz traffic has effectively stopped, with only Iranian-related vessels still passing through. Tehran has ruled out any talks with Washington, although Trump has said talks remain a possibility.
Bitcoin falls below $70,000 on geopolitical jitters
Turmoil in the oil markets spilled over into crypto. Bitcoin dropped below $70,000 after news of a mining threat broke, reversing earlier gains that kept BTC trading above psychological levels.
At the time of the report, the coin was worth around $69,200 – a significant increase on the same day, but it reached $73,000 in March.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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