By Alex Kozul-Wright
Oil prices were rising early Wednesday but the U.S. is set to unveil a raft of measures to help stabilize the oil trade in the Gulf. It comes a day after President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy may begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday more measures would be announced. "We have a series of announcements that we're going to be making," Bessent said in an interview on CNBC. "We began yesterday with the announcement that DFC [development finance institution] will provide the insurance for both the crude carriers and the cargo ships operating in around the Gulf over the weekend."
Oil prices fell back from their highs early Wednesday as investors began to hope that the Middle East conflict won't develop into a prolonged war.
Brent crude futures were trading at $82.19 a barrel, up 1% on the day but off daily highs of $84.48. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 0.1% at at $74.52, down from highs of $77.23.
Oil prices fell back after The New York Times reported that Iran has reached out to the U.S. via secret service channels to signal it is ready to hold talks to end the conflict, citing U.S. officials.
"I'm not surprised. They [the Iranians] are wanting to test the waters and see if there's willingness to talk from the U.S. side," Marc Ostwald, ADM Investor Services International's chief economist, told Barron's in an interview Wednesday.
The U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine will hold a press conference at the Pentagon at 8 a.m. Eastern time, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Ostwald said "the harsher they sound," in the press conference, the more Brent crude would "test $85 a barrel."
On the other hand, "if they say 'we're open to talks'... [oil prices] could drop back to $75 a barrel, or even $70," he added.
In the near-term, analysts at Goldman Sachs warned in a note that Brent crude could "reach $100 [a barrel]," if trade through Strait of Hormuz remains "flat for 5 additional weeks."
However, that's not their base case. Analyst Daan Struyven said he assumes just five additional days of low Strait of Hormuz exports before a gradual recovery over the next 28 days.
Goldman raised their second quarter average oil price forecast for Brent by $10 to $76 a barrel, and for WTI by $9 to $71.
On Tuesday Brent crude had climbed to a high of $85.12, but then started falling 7.9% to an intraday low $75.75 a barrel after a Truth Social post from Trump. He said the U.S. Navy may begin escorting tankers through the vital Strait of Hormuz, if necessary, to ensure the "free flow of energy to the world."
Oil prices were initially up by more Wednesday even after President Donald Trump said he may start securing maritime trade through the Strait of Hormuz. That was likely because Iran escalated its attacks on U.S. bases and embassies on what is the fifth the day of the conflict.
Also Mohammad Akbarzadeh, a Navy official with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard said: "Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic's Navy," in a statement carried by Iran's Fars news agency and reported by multiple news agencies.
The third reason is Iraq -- OPEC's second largest oil producer -- has started to mothball production at some its biggest fields and could make further cuts in the coming days, according to a Bloomberg report.
Write to Alex Kozul-Wright at alexander.kozul-wright@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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March 04, 2026 07:49 ET (12:49 GMT)
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