The oil market experienced dramatic price fluctuations over the last 24 hours, marking one of the more chaotic days for oil prices in recent memory. After hitting what many experts called unsustainable high pricing in the early morning hours on Monday, prices fell to a more tolerable level.
Oil prices soared on early Monday morning due to the military conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. The price of Brent Crude, the world’s benchmark for crude oil, briefly increased to near $120 a barrel on Monday before later falling to $110. Oil costs decreased even further later in the day, with U.S. crude oil dropping to about $86 per barrel by late Monday afternoon, NBC News reported. Brent Crude also fell to $89 per barrel.
Both prices crept up again later in the day, with U.S. crude oil rising to $91 per barrel, and Brent Crude increasing to $94.62, shortly before midnight, according to CNBC.
The drop in prices appeared to be due to the words of President Donald Trump. While speaking at a GOP policy retreat at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, the president called the military conflict in Iran a “little excursion” to rid the world “of some evil.”
“We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil, and I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion,” Trump said.
He also said the “war” was “very complete, pretty much,” declaring that Iran’s military and communications had been destroyed.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” said Trump. “They have no navy, no communications. They’ve got no Air Force.”
Trump’s remarks on Monday afternoon precipitated the drop in oil prices.
Later, amid concerns that Iran would close shipping within the Strait of Hormuz, considered one of the world’s “most important oil chokepoints,” Trump warned Iran that he would order an increase in bombing campaigns on Iran, hitting them “twenty times harder.”
OIL PRICES NEAR $120 A BARREL AS TRUMP CALLS IT ‘SMALL PRICE TO PAY’ FOR ‘PEACE’
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”
Trump’s post correlated with a slight increase in oil prices per barrel at the end of Monday.