Crude oil futures rose sharply Monday after Iran ruled out extending its memorandum of understanding with the United States and warned it would shift to an offensive posture if diplomatic efforts collapse.
U.S. crude futures climbed 2.8% to $84.70 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, also gained 2.8% to trade at $91.03 per barrel.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would move from defense to offense should talks with Washington fail, saying: “Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions.”
The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open while the two sides negotiated a final agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program within 60 days. That deadline expired Monday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, ruled out any extension of the MOU, according to the state news agency Tasnim. “We did not start any negotiations at all, and the U.S. violated the understanding from the very beginning; therefore, the 60-day issue is not relevant,” Baghaei said.
Trump threatens Oman
President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, demanded that Iran “put up the white flag of surrender” and threatened to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally, for negotiating with Tehran over managing traffic through the strait.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the sh— out of them,” Trump said.
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was at a near standstill on Sunday, with just three vessels crossing the waterway, according to data from Kpler.
China demand could push Brent to $100
Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy, told CNBC that Brent prices could climb back toward $100 per barrel as China boosts its imports. China has cut its purchases by 4 million barrels per day to 5 million barrels per day, a reduction that has helped keep crude from spiking further during the Iran conflict, McNally said.
But Beijing will likely allow its refiners to increase imports to take advantage of high refined product prices, he said. “China coming off of its crash diet is not consistent with Brent prices being stable,” the analyst said.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/17/oil-prices-iran-war-strait-hormuz.html
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