The post WTI climbs above $99.00 as Middle East tensions escalate, Trump threatens Iran over Strait of Hormuz appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $99.10 during the early European trading hours on Monday. The WTI price jumps amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East. Traders brace for the release of the American Petroleum Institute (API) report, which will be published later on Tuesday.  US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, just a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week. Iran threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz completely in response to Trump’s ultimatum on the restoration of oil traffic through the critical waterway. “Oil sentiment may lurch on threats and rhetoric in the near term, but its more durable direction will continue to be shaped by the state of Middle East oil flows,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights. The International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief, Fatih Birol, said on Monday that he is consulting with ‌governments in Asia and Europe on the release of more stockpiled oil “if necessary” due to the Iran war. “A stock release will help to comfort the markets, but this is not the solution. It will only help to reduce the pain in the economy,” said Birol. On March 11, IEA members agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to mitigate the current supply disruption. WTI Oil FAQs WTI Oil is a type of Crude Oil sold on international markets. The WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate, one of three major types including Brent and Dubai Crude. WTI is also referred to as “light” and “sweet” because of its relatively low gravity and sulfur content respectively. It is considered a high quality Oil that is easily…

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Filed under: News - @ March 23, 2026 7:24 am