- The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve awarded 53.3 million barrels to companies including oil trader Trafigura Group and US refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp, adding to a wave of oil released to help tame surging prices stemming from the Iran war.
- The conflict with Iran will be on Trump’s agenda when he meets Xi later this week. Revenue that China provides to Iran as well as potential weapons exports would be among the topics discussed at the summit, according to a US official who briefed reporters over the weekend. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the preparations.
- Global oil markets are losing 100 million barrels every week Hormuz is shut, Saudi Aramco’s Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said.
Trump Says US-Iran Ceasefire on ‘Massive Life Support’
Trump was to meet with his national security team Monday to discuss the war, including possible resumption of military action, Axios reported, citing three US officials.
As the standoff continued, the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported that the United Arab Emirates had carried out assaults on Iran. The UAE became a target of Iranian missiles and drones in the early days of the war.
Hormuz remains largely blocked, with Iran and other Persian Gulf countries unable to export energy supplies through the waterway — a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
Iran has deployed its Ghadir-class midget submarines in the Persian Gulf to act as an “invisible guardian” of Hormuz, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The home-grown model, capable of firing anti-ship cruise missiles, will add to concerns among shipowners about transiting the chokepoint.
A tanker loaded with LNG from Qatar appeared to have turned back from the strait on Monday. Still, some vessels managed to get through, including a Qatari ship.
The US Navy faces millions of dollars of extra costs each time it sends one of its destroyers through the waterway, in a fraught voyage that requires added surveillance measures and support from fighter jets and helicopters.
Failed attempts to reach a basic framework for further discussions between Washington and Tehran jeopardize the prospects for successful negotiations over future curbs on Iran’s nuclear program — a key aim of the US-Israeli military campaign.
Trump had proposed that Iran permit shipping to pass through Hormuz while Washington ends its blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks to follow.
Iran’s other demands include the release of its frozen assets and the lifting of US sanctions on its oil sales, the person said. Iran’s state-run IRIB News described Trump’s plan, conveyed last week, as tantamount to surrender and said the US must also pay war damages.
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