On Monday (April 27), international crude oil prices rose in early Asian trading as plans for a second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran once again stalled.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose by about 2% in early Asian trading on Monday, reaching a three-week high of $107.97 per barrel before slightly dropping to $106.99 per barrel as of 01:30 GMT. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price rose by 1% to $95.40 per barrel.
The increase in oil prices occurred after the second round of ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran reached a deadlock.
President Trump announced last Saturday (April 25) the cancellation of the trip to Pakistan by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Prior to this, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, making direct contact between the two sides impossible.
Trump posted on his social media platform “Truth Social” that the conditions proposed by Iranian officials for reaching a lasting peace agreement were “not good enough,” and therefore he would not allow the U.S. negotiation team to go to Islamabad to avoid wasting too much time on a fruitless trip.
Trump also added that there is “serious infighting and chaos” within the Iranian leadership.
Araghchi arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia on Monday to hold talks with Russian President Putin and other officials in an attempt to find a way out of the diplomatic deadlock with the United States. Earlier, he made a brief visit to Oman on Sunday to seek coordination on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz.
Since the outbreak of the war with Iran, global energy supply has been under tremendous pressure as the key Strait of Hormuz has effectively been closed off since Iran threatened to attack passing commercial ships in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on the country.
Approximately 20% of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump announced last week the extension of a two-week ceasefire agreement but did not specify a deadline for reaching an agreement to end the war.
“No one knows who’s in charge over there, including themselves,” Trump said. “And, we have all the cards in our hands, they have nothing! If they want to talk, they just need to make a call!!!”