Trump abandons 20% toll plan in Strait of Hormuz, international oil prices give up some gains

Trump abandons 20% toll plan in Strait of Hormuz, international oil prices give up some gains.

On Tuesday local time, international oil prices fell from their intraday highs as U.S. President Trump abandoned his plan to require ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay a 20% "protection fee." As of press time, U.S.

WTI crude oil futures rose 1.65% to US$79.43 per barrel; international benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 1.8% to US$84.81 per barrel. According to CCTV News, Trump posted on the Truth Social platform that day: "Based on fruitful talks with leaders in the Middle East, I have decided to cancel the 20% U.S.

compensation fee and replace it with trade and investment cooperation between the Gulf countries and the United States." However, Trump did not reveal that the Gulf countries had made any specific commitments, saying only: "The scale of these investments will be extremely large and will also bring huge benefits to these countries and their future." He also claimed that the Strait of Hormuz will continue to be open to navigation for all ships except Iranian-related ships.

"We will therefore implement a comprehensive blockade, but it will be limited to ships traveling to and from Iranian ports and ships transporting any cargo related to Iranian cargo." Trump said on Monday that the U.S.

Navy would be responsible for protecting shipping security in the Strait of Hormuz and would therefore require all transit ships to pay a fee equal to 20% of the value of the cargo. In the past week, the security situation in the Strait of Hormuz has deteriorated significantly due to Iran's continued attacks on commercial ships.

Iran had previously required ships to pay tolls in exchange for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a requirement that the United States firmly opposed. According to the interim agreement signed by the United States and Iran, Iran agreed to suspend the collection of relevant fees within 60 days.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency of the United Nations, considers the imposition of tolls in the Strait of Hormuz illegal. U.S. crude oil prices rose nearly 4% on Tuesday as the United States and Iran continued to compete over control of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said the U.S.

military carried out air strikes on Iranian coastal targets on Monday in an effort to weaken Iran's ability to attack commercial ships. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its forces attacked two supertankers that had their transponders turned off.

The UAE's national oil company ADNOC said two of its oil tankers were attacked by artillery shells while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member and injuring several others. The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that according to Trump's order, the U.S. Navy will re-implement the blockade of Iranian ships at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

Citigroup warned that Trump’s plan to impose shipping fees in the Strait of Hormuz significantly increases the risk of further escalation and triggering a military conflict. A report released by Citi said: "The possibility that the Iranian government will postpone the implementation of the memorandum of understanding until at least until after the U.S.

mid-term elections has also increased. In this case, oil prices are more likely to maintain 'higher levels and longer'." Before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, about a fifth of the world's oil supplies needed to be transported through the Strait of Hormuz.

After Iran began attacking ships in the waterway in early March, shipping traffic in the strait dropped sharply. However, after the United States and Iran reached a temporary agreement, shipping activities began to resume for a time. (

#Stocks #Oil