Oil prices whipsawed on fast-moving expectations surrounding a fresh round of peace talks between the US and Iran, with questions over who will attend, and whether they will deliver a lasting truce.
The two-week ceasefire is entering its final hours, and US President Donald Trump again threatened to “knock out every single Power Plant” if an agreement was not reached, while later adding that he considered an extension “highly unlikely.”
The White House announced Vice President JD Vance will lead the US delegation for negotiations to be held in Islamabad; Iranian officials — reportedly wracked in a divisive power struggle between the government and military — have yet to provide a clear update on who will go.
The prospect of a new round of talks follows a dramatic weekend in which Iran once again closed the Strait of Hormuz and US forces struck and seized an Iranian vessel. Trump vowed to maintain a blockade of Iranian ports if Tehran refused to reach a deal; the effort has so far turned back 27 ships bound for or departing Iranian ports.
At home, meanwhile, Trump invoked wartime powers in a bid to accelerate the production of natural gas, coal, and oil, and to fast-track new energy infrastructure.