Oil prices climbed Sunday after Tehran warned against a US ground invasion, despite President Donald Trump saying on Friday that negotiations would continue to end the war.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 2.47% to $107.92, while US crude rose 2.94% to $102.57.
Iran’s parliament speaker on Sunday said the country’s forces are “waiting” for American troops. The warning came after Trump on Friday said “talks are ongoing” and extended the deadline for his ultimatum calling on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group, which launched strikes against Israel on Saturday, poses another threat to oil shipments in the region. The rebels could close the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint linking the Red Sea to global shipping lines.
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are also working to bring the war to an end. The officials’ meeting on Sunday was “very productive,” according to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who added that Pakistan will facilitate talks between the US and Iran in the “coming days.”
The war has caused the largest oil disruption in history due to the closure of the strait, which 20% of the world’s oil flows through. Strikes targeting oil and gas facilities have also triggered higher gas prices. Americans are paying for the effects of the war at the pump: a gallon of gas in the US costs $3.98 on average Sunday.
Smaller nations will be hit hardest — including countries in Asia — but rising oil prices will have a rippling effect across the global economy, Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy, told CNN on Sunday. In a worst-case scenario, surging oil prices could be ended by a recession, he added.
“Once you hurt the economic growth, it’s a brutal way, but an effective way, of killing oil demand, which then will cap the price,” he said.
Those gas prices will take time to fall once the war ends, experts warn. It will depend heavily on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and repairing damages to surrounding infrastructure, such as Qatar’s Ras Laffan — the largest gas production facility in the world — which Iran struck in mid-March.
Stock futures also fell Sunday, with Dow futures down 0.53%, or 241 points. S&P 500 futures fell 0.46%, while Nasdaq futures declined 0.48%.
