Brent Crude Surges Past $108 After Trump Rejects Iran's Strait of Hormuz Reopening Deal

Oil jumped on Monday after Donald Trump turned down Iran's offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude climbed about 4% to $108.48 a barrel, and US benchmark WTI rose about 4% to $96.16, Quartz reported.

Traders had briefly bet on a way out. Prices dipped on Friday on ceasefire chatter. By Monday that hope was gone.

The offer on the table

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi laid out the proposal at the UN General Assembly on Friday. Iran would reopen Hormuz and restart nuclear talks within seven days, on four conditions: the US ends its strikes, lifts its naval blockade, lifts sanctions and releases frozen Iranian assets.

Qatar has been acting as a go-between. The price Tehran named was steep, and Washington was not in a paying mood.

Trump's answer

On Saturday, Trump rejected the plan. He said Iran was dying, had no money and had outsmarted itself by closing the strait, and he called the US effort the greatest blockade ever.

He told Axios that Iran wants a deal, just "not the deal that I want." The Wall Street Journal reported that aides say Trump expects US strikes to resume after the November midterms. That comes from people around him, not from any public order.

Oil is still moving, just not easily

Before the war, roughly a fifth of the world's oil passed through Hormuz. The strait is not fully sealed: a US official said about 40 million barrels moved through in the prior 48 hours, and signaled no urgency to change course.

That flow explains why prices are high but not panicked. Brent is up about 18% over the month, according to Blockonomi, which put it near $107.27 in earlier trading. Business Standard described the move as a rebound after last week's dip.

Diesel feels it first

The pain is sharpest at the pump for trucks and farms. Diesel is already at record prices in Europe and the US, and a strait that stays half open for weeks keeps that pressure on.

With no talks scheduled and aides pointing to more strikes after November, the market is pricing a long standoff rather than a quick reopening.