WTI crude oil down 19%, Brent below $82: US Energy Department briefly gave the market some hope

U.S. crude of the West Texas Intermediate Mark fell 19% in trading on March 10, while the international benchmark Brent fell 18% at the moment. As a result, WTI at the minimum for the day cost $76.73 per barrel, and Brent - $81.16. However, shortly thereafter, the quotes recovered a significant part of the losses.

The reason for the drop in oil prices was a post by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on social network X about a US Navy vessel escorting an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is key to oil exports from the Persian Gulf, which have virtually ground to a halt since the U.S. began its war with Iran.

However, Wright's post was deleted shortly after publication, Bloomberg writes. The agency's source familiar with the situation said there was no escort. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency also wrote that U.S. ships did not escort tankers through the strait, Bloomberg reports.

"To date, the U.S. Navy has not escorted the tanker or vessels," White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said at a press conference, she was quoted by CNBC as saying.

After Wright's post was deleted and the rebuttals that followed, the price of Brent rose back above $90 a barrel, WTI was above $85 a barrel.

The Pentagon, the U.S. Navy and the Department of Energy did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

The United States on Tuesday increased its oil production forecast for next year amid the recent price hike caused by supply disruptions from key Middle Eastern countries. The country's oil production in 2027 will amount to 13.8 million barrels per day, which is 0.5 million more than expected a month ago, according to the report "Short-term Energy Market Outlook" published on Tuesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In 2026, the production level is estimated at 13.6 million bpd.

A previous EIA report, released before the conflict in the Middle East began, said U.S. production would peak this year before beginning to decline in 2027.

"Because oil price changes impact production with a lag - from investment decisions to rig starts, well completions and production starts - the impact of higher prices in our forecast will be more pronounced in 2027 than in 2026," EIA said in a new report.

A week earlier, US President Donald Trump announced plans to organize tanker escorts through the Strait of Hormuz and promised to provide insurance and guarantees "at a very reasonable price" for ships passing through the Persian Gulf.

Also on Tuesday, the executive director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol said that he called an "emergency meeting" of the intergovernmental organization to assess the situation in the market. The G7 countries asked the agency to prepare scenarios for possible release of strategic oil reserves, Bloomberg reports.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor