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This picture taken on March 26, 2026 shows an oil tanker unloading crude oil at a port in Yantai, in China's eastern Shandong province.
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Oil prices rose Thursday as the market realized Iran was still controlling access to the Strait of Hormuz despite a two-week ceasefire agreement with the U.S.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May rose more than 6% to $100.27 per barrel by 9:51 a.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery added nearly 4% to $98.26
The moves come a day after U.S. crude oil posted its biggest single-day drop since 2020.
The strait has not opened to ship traffic as Iran restricts access despite the ceasefire, said the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Thursday.
Tehran has made clear that ships must obtain its permission to pass through the strait, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber in a social media post. "That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion," the ADNOC chief said.
The ceasefire is fragile as the U.S. and Iran dispute the terms of the agreement. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker, said on Wednesday that Washington had breached the deal.
"The deep historical distrust we hold toward the United States stems from its repeated violations of all forms of commitments — a pattern that has regrettably been repeated once again," Ghalibaf said in a statement posted on social media.
Oil prices since the start of the year
Ghalibaf said three elements of Iran's 10-point truce proposal had been violated: Israel's ongoing strikes in Lebanon, a drone entering Iranian airspace, and what he described as the denial of Tehran's right to enrich uranium.
U.S. President Donald Trump had said Tuesday stateside that Iran's proposal could serve as a basis for talks. Vice President JD Vance responded to the allegations while on a trip to Hungary on Wednesday.
"Ceasefires are always messy," Vance said, addressing the reported drone incident in Iranian airspace. He added that Washington maintains Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium, and said any ceasefire covering Lebanon had not been included in the agreement.
