United States President Donald Trump criticized Iran’s handling of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the country is failing to honor its commitments. Trump claimed that Iran is “doing a very poor job” of allowing oil to pass through the waterway. “That is not the agreement we have,” he claimed. The two sides recently entered a two‑week ceasefire that required Iran to guarantee safe passage for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. However, disputes over Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire have complicated the deal’s implementation.
European, African crude oil prices hit records on supply disruptions despite ceasefire
European and African crude oil prices climbed to fresh records on Wednesday, defying a sharp selloff in oil futures after a U.S.-Iran ceasefire was reached on Tuesday, as traders priced in a prolonged disruption to physical oil supplies.
The ceasefire announcement sent major benchmark Brent and WTI contracts tumbling 13% and 16% respectively on Wednesday to below $100 a barrel, as investors bet on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a reduced geopolitical risk premium. . However, prices in the physical market have yet to decline and some have even risen. The outright price of a barrel of North Sea Forties crude reached an all-time high of $146.43 a barrel on Thursday, according to LSEG data.
The divergence highlights strong from Asian and European refiners for non-Middle East barrels, driving up prices for prompt replacement crudes, such as those in Europe and Africa. It also shows that disruption is expected to persist.
“We are talking months before a return to the full supply chain, so certainly there will continue to be this big divergence between the physical and paper markets,” said Sparta Commodities analyst Neil Crosby.
Iran’s continuing near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on regional states’ energy infrastructure have also pushed the premiums at which crude oil cargoes trade to all-time highs. Forties trades at a premium or discount to dated Brent a physical benchmark for prompt cargoes. Dated Brent is trading almost $27 above June Brent futures, according to LSEG data, and Forties hit a record premium of $20.25 to dated Brent on Wednesday. “The reaction [on futures prices] is expected, but we do not expect it will quickly translate into a material change in physical flows or production,” consultancy Energy Aspects said, It added that a temporary two-week ceasefire meant operators will not restart refineries and fields due to the risk of renewed shutdowns.
In the North Sea, other major grades Brent, Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll were also bid to fresh record premiums on Wednesday. U.S. WTI Midland crude delivered to Europe traded at a $20.70 premium to dated Brent on Wednesday, also the highest ever.
The value of dated Brent is derived from the prices of the five North Sea crudes and WTI Midland. The rise in these premiums has wider significance for the oil market because dated Brent is used to price over 60% of globally traded crude. In West Africa, Angolan Cabinda crude was trading at around dated Brent plus $10 per barrel or even firmer on Wednesday, a trader said, a record high for that grade.
Oil jumps 5% on ceasefire uncertainties
Crude oil prices increased on Thursday, with the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rising by more than 5%. Market participants are also evaluating the geopolitical factors related to the ceasefire between the US and Iran. The move comes after some relief in the commodity market following the announcement of a new ceasefire deal. Prices fell below $100 per barrel yesterday. However, over the last few hours, investors have shown less optimism following comments from Iranian officials about a possible fallout.
By 12:22 pm, WTI for May 2026 was up 5.45% at $99.16 a barrel, while Brent for June 2026 had gained 3.87% to $98.18.
ADNOC: Open the Strait unconditionally…..
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) CEO Sultan Al-Jaber called on Thursday for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen “fully, unconditionally and without restriction,” adding that “energy security and economic stability depend on it.”
“The Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled,” he stated on LinkedIn, saying that “conditional passage is not passage.” He stressed the strategic waterway is governed by international law and “no country has a legitimate right to determine who may pass.”
Al-Jaber warned markets are at a “critical crossroads,” with “an estimated 230 vessels” loaded with oil awaiting transit, while “more than 20% of globally traded energy” remains affected. “Every day the Strait remains restricted, the consequences compound,” he said, urging action to “restore real flows” and ease pressure on prices and global supply.” “This is particularly urgent for Asia, where 80% of these cargoes are bound and half the world’s population lives,” Al-Jaber said.
NN: Its time to NUKE them back to the stone age! They desperately want nukes we should. give them a dozen or so.
Iran’s nuclear chief: Enrichment won’t stop….. It will have to be stopped!
Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, stated on Thursday that the “enemy” won’t succeed in limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment program and that “no law or person can stop us,” Iran’s ISNA news agency reported. Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, has repeatedly defended the nation’s right to pursue uranium enrichment as a sovereign technological capability and has previously stressed that Iran’s nuclear industry is still in operation despite international pressure and sanctions. In a previous statement, the White House reiterated that the US still opposes any uranium enrichment within Iran, while adding that US President Donald Trump did not agree to Tehran’s “wish list,” but it was a mere “workable basis on which to negotiate.”
NN: So what has changed, Straights still closed and for “PEACEFULL” purposes Iran wants to maintain its RIGHTS to enrich weapons grade uranium… There is no use to negotiate with these savages
Hezbollah says it fired rockets at Israel,,,, So What Else IS New
Hezbollah said it fired rockets at northern Israel, claiming the attack was a response to what it called violations of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, according to AFP News. The Iran-backed group said it targeted the Israeli settlement of Manara and vowed to continue strikes until “the US-Israeli aggression against our country and our people stops.” The announcement followed Israel’s attack on Lebanon, which killed over 200 people in the deadliest wave of strikes since the conflict began.
NN: Israel needs to protect its notherb flank
Iran said to have closed Hormuz amid Israeli strikes
Iran has supposedly closed the Strait of Hormuz for oil tankers amid Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.Earlier today, local media also reported that the Iranian navy supposedly threatened ships and vessels trying to pass through the critical shipping route without its permission with “destruction,” citing several shipping sources. In addition, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union announced that Tehran will begin charging ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire.
NN: That did not last long!!
Saudi Arabia’s Key East-West Oil Pipeline Hit by Drone
April 8 (Reuters) – Iran attacked Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline just hours after a ceasefire was agreed to pause the Iran war, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday, hitting its only crude oil export route since hostilities began.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, currently its only outlet for exporting crude oil, was hit in an Iranian attack while other facilities in the kingdom were also targeted, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday. The pipeline was diverting around 7 million barrels per day (bpd) from the kingdom’s oil heartland in the east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, trapping huge volumes of oil and gas in the Gulf and sending prices skyrocketing. Flows through the pipeline are expected to be affected, the source said, adding damage was being assessed. That could exacerbate what experts have called the world’s worst energy crisis. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Wednesday they had hit several targets across the region with missiles and drones, including what the IRGC called oil facilities of U.S. companies in Yanbu. The exact timing of the attack was not immediately clear nor the extent of any damage or the impact on the pipeline’s operations.
The Saudi government communications office and pipeline operator Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. The United States and Iran on Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan meant to suspend a six-week-old war that has killed thousands, spread across the Middle East and caused unprecedented energy market disruption. Attacks on other Gulf countries were not halted despite the agreement.
The Kuwaiti army said that an intensified wave of Iranian attacks had targeted the country since 0800 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), adding drone attacks caused extensive damage to oil facilities, power plants and water desalination plants.
The United Arab Emirates said it was dealing with Iranian missile and drone attacks and Bahrain reported that an Iranian attack damaged houses in the Sitra area. Aramco uses about 2 million bpd of the East-West Pipeline’s capacity domestically, leaving roughly 5 million bpd for export. Yanbu loadings averaged a near-capacity 4.6 million bpd in the week starting March 23, shipping data showed. The pipeline had left the kingdom as a relative winner from the strait’s closure, with its March estimated oil proceeds were higher than a year earlier.
Iran said to consider military action against Israel
Tehran is currently assessing carrying out a military operation against Israel in light of its violations of the ceasefire agreement following massive strikes on Lebanon earlier today, a military source told Fars News Agency on Wednesday. The source emphasized that the latest actions by Israel may indicate that Washington is unable to control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or that the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has given its approval for strikes on Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down an Israeli Air Force HERMES-900 drone in Iranian airspace, warning that any intrusion of hostile aircraft is considered a violation of the ceasefire, and promised to respond. The latest turn of events already puts the tenuous ceasefire agreement in jeopardy, less than a day after it appeared to enter into force.
NN: This ha ha ha deal has as much as snow cone in the desert
Kuwait, UAE say Iran attacks continue despite ceasefire
Kuwaiti Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday that Iranian attacks are continuing despite a two-week ceasefire. “The Kuwaiti air defenses have been dealing, since 8:00 a.m. today and up to now, with an intense wave of hostile Iranian criminal attacks, where (28) drones were intercepted that targeted the State of Kuwait,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi shared on X. Some were aimed at “vital oil facilities and power stations in the south of the country,” causing “significant material damage to oil infrastructure facilities, power plants, and water desalination plants,” it said. The UAE’s defense ministry added its systems are “actively engaging with missile and UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] threats,” noting the sounds heard across the country were due to “intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.”