WTI crude futures trimmed earlier gains on Wednesday, easing back toward $85 per barrel after briefly approaching $89. Traders weighed escalating tensions following attacks in the Strait of Hormuz against the International Energy Agency’s decision to authorize its largest-ever release of emergency oil reserves, with member countries set to supply 400 million barrels.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi indicated that Japan could begin releasing oil from its national reserves as soon as next week. Nonetheless, the conflict with Iran shows no signs of abating, and mixed messaging from the US administration has added to market uncertainty. US President Donald Trump told Axios in a brief phone interview on Wednesday that the war would end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target.” By contrast, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a day earlier that it “will be our most intense day of strikes.”
Meanwhile, OPEC, in its March report, left its forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2026 and 2027 unchanged.
