Brent crude rose nearly 4% on Thursday after three straight days of declines, climbing back from under $80 a barrel as traders watched uncertainty over a possible deal between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz. The move came even as the White House was talking about de-escalation and negotiation.
The price jump mattered because the Strait of Hormuz remains one of the market’s most sensitive pressure points, and any hint of a change there can move oil fast. In this case, the market did not get enough clarity to settle down. The open question is not whether talks are happening, but whether Iran and Oman are close to anything concrete and what it would actually cover.
That uncertainty was sitting alongside fresh diplomacy in Washington. President Trump was scheduling a phone call with Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday to discuss Iran matters, a sign that the latest round of Iran US relations was being handled not just through markets but through direct calls with key regional players. Trump also said Saudi Arabia was among the countries that asked the U.S. to call off a large attack on Iran over the weekend, and he said many governments wanted to give negotiations a last chance.
He used Truth Social on Thursday to reject reporting from The Washington Post that said he had demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Camp David last week over apparent misinformation on munitions shortages. Trump called the report false and said he was happy with Hegseth’s work. The clash over military readiness ran in parallel with the oil market’s own signal: even with talk of restraint, prices were still telling traders that the risk had not gone away.
That risk is not abstract for Saudi Arabia, which has come under fire from the Iran-backed Houthis, including attacks on energy facilities and Saudi-flagged oil tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Similar pressure points have helped keep the market nervous whenever the Gulf headline mix shifts. For now, Brent’s nearly 4% rebound suggests investors are still pricing uncertainty first and relief later.
Trump’s next call may help frame how far Washington wants to push on Iran, but the more important answer for traders is whether the talks tied to the Strait of Hormuz produce anything specific enough to calm a market that has already swung back once in a single day.
