The price of June Brent crude futures jumped 7.8% to $102.6 a barrel in early trade on April 13, according to trading data from London's ICE Futures exchange at 1:06 a.m. Bulgarian time.
The United States and Iran ended direct talks in Pakistan without reaching an agreement. "We're going back to the United States because there's no deal," said US Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the US delegation, on Sunday. The United States has demanded that Iran halt uranium enrichment, dismantle it, dismantle all major enrichment facilities and fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has refused, Axios reported, citing a US official. That has threatened a two-week ceasefire reached last week and raised questions about the effectiveness of efforts to end the six-week war that has disrupted global energy supplies, Bloomberg reported. President Donald Trump later announced on social media platform TruthSocial that the US would begin blocking the Strait of Hormuz. "From now on, the United States Navy, the best in the world, will begin the process of blocking all ships attempting to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote. US forces will search and seize ships that have paid Iran to pass through the strait, Trump added.
US Central Command said it would begin blocking all maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports on Monday at 10:00 a.m. New York time (17:00 Bulgarian time).
Iran, for its part, said that any warships that try to approach the strait "under any pretext" will be considered violators of the ceasefire.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key logistical element not only for Iran, but also for Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. According to Kpler, 13.4 million barrels of oil pass through it per day. Asia-Pacific countries are the most dependent on these supplies, with 46% of their oil imports coming from the Persian Gulf.
Following the start of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz was closed, disrupting oil supplies from the Persian Gulf countries. Against this backdrop, oil prices soared, reaching a peak of $119.5 per barrel for Brent crude.
However, on the night of April 8, the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with Iran agreeing to the full, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. In return, the US suspended bombing and attacks on Iran.
Against this backdrop, Brent crude oil prices fell 13.29% on April 8 to $94.75 a barrel.
Amrita Sen, director of market research at Energy Aspects, noted that the US has so far allowed the Islamic Republic to export oil and petroleum products and has even eased sanctions on the country's oil as it has focused on supporting energy prices.
“But if it comes to a full-scale blockade, it would mean 1.5-1.7 million barrels of oil per day would be cut off - on top of the more than 10 million barrels per day already cut off from the market,” she said.