By Anita Hamilton and Callum Keown

U.S. oil prices settled higher Tuesday as Iran appeared to reject a temporary ceasefire and President Donald Trump ramped up threats with just hours remaining before his 8 p.m. Eastern time deadline for a peace deal.

But a last ditch effort from Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to postpone the deadline by two weeks caused oil prices to fall back down again.

"The President has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Barron's.

After the U.S. struck military targets on Kharg Island, which handles 90% of Iran's oil exports, Trump wrote on Truth Social that a "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the security council that Iran "will never submit to pressure, coercion or force." He also called on the U.N. to demand an end to the attacks.

While West Texas Intermediate oil futures settled up 0.5% at $112.95, they had fallen to $111.20 by late Tuesday. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures settled down 0.5% to $109.27, before sinking to $105.81 at 5 p.m.

U.S. oil futures are trading higher than the international benchmark because they're based on contracts for delivery in May, meaning they reflect how the market sees oil prices over the next four weeks, said Jaime Brito, executive director of Refining and Oil Products at Oil Price Information Service. Dow Jones is the parent company of both Barron's and OPIS.

By comparison, the price of Brent futures is based on contracts for delivery in June and reflects what the market expects over the next eight weeks.

Another factor keeping a relative lid on Brent prices may be the slight uptick in tankers successfully traversing the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic.

On Saturday, the number of crossings peaked at 11 -- the most in a single day since March 1 -- after Iran began allowing Iraqi vessels to move through the waterway. What's more there have been no reported physical attacks on ships there since April 1.

"We continue to see the near-term conflict path clearly pointing to escalation, even if the White House announces another extension," RBC Capital Markets' Helina Croft wrote Tuesday. "The negotiating gap between Tehran and Washington remains wide."

Echoing that sentiment, J.P. Morgan analysts wrote Tuesday that Iran "has limited incentive to fully reopen the Strait without a comprehensive ceasefire agreement with the U.S."

Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com and Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.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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April 07, 2026 17:13 ET (21:13 GMT)

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