By Adam Clark
Oil prices were gaining again early Monday, with markets appearing to put little stock in President Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a way to ease the energy crisis.
Brent crude, the international standard, was up 1.2% at $113.52 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. standard, was rising 2.5% to $100.71 a barrel.
The moves represent a mild narrowing of the gap between the contracts, which has widened during fighting in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East. Brent has risen quicker than WTI due to secure U.S. production and speculation that the Trump administration could restrict crude exports.
Trump has threatened to attack Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn't opened within 48 hours, in comments made Saturday evening in the U.S. Iran has said it would retaliate with its own attacks on infrastructure.
Meanwhile, at least 40 energy assets have been severely damaged across nine countries since the Middle East conflict began, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said. Although the IEA is discussing further releases of oil stocks, such action wouldn't resolve the crisis, Birol said in a conference in Australia on Monday.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs raised their forecasts for the average price of oil this year. They now expect Brent to average $85 a barrel in 2026 from $77 previously, and WTI to average $79 a barrel from $72 previously.
"Due to uncertainty around the duration of the shock and assuming that Hormuz flows remain at 5% through April 10, prices are likely to trend higher over that period until the market gains confidence that a lengthy disruption is unlikely," Goldman Sachs analyst Daan Struyven wrote in a research note.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2026 04:06 ET (08:06 GMT)
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