WTI prices briefly top $80 for first time in nearly a month

President Donald Trump said he would impose a 20% charge on all cargo transported via the Strait of Hormuz.

Global oil prices Tuesday were on track to notch their largest two-day rise since mid-March, buoyed by further escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict even as President Donald Trump backed away from his threat to impose a 20% fee cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

The flare-up in violence in the Middle East in recent hours and days proves that the "hypothesis the market tends to cling to of the war's near end is premature," said Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at XS.com.

West Texas Intermediate's contract for August delivery (CL.1) (CLQ26) rose 1.4% to $79.20 a barrel, trading below the session's high of $81.27, while Brent crude's September contract (BRN00) (BRNU26) added 1.7% to $84.73 a barrel.

Brent, the global benchmark, was on track to tally a two-day rise of around 11%, which would be the biggest such increase since a two-day stretch of gains that ended on March 13, according to Dow Jones Market Data. On Monday, it climbed 9.6% - the biggest one-day percentage gain since May 5, 2020.

For now, market sentiment is "riding the Iran war rollercoaster," said Manish Raj, managing director at Velandera Energy Partners.

Oil prices had pared earlier gains after Trump pivoted away from his threat Monday of what Raj referred to as a "blunt" 20% cargo fee for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for safe passage. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he decided to replace the 20% "United States Reimbursement Fee" with trade and investment deals that various Gulf States will be making to the U.S.

The pivot away from that fee toward investment deals "acted as a partial pressure release valve" for oil prices, said Raj. "Traders had priced in potential transit fees, but Trump's "quick shift to trade deals moved focus back to the war itself," he said.

Oil prices will 'likely remain tethered to the Hormuz narrative.'Manish Raj, Velandera Energy

But oil prices will "likely remain tethered to the Hormuz narrative," said Raj.

Trump has said Washington would be reimposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf, starting from 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. Separately, the president said he would be making a speech to the nation Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern.

On Monday, front-month Brent crude futures closed above their 200-day moving average - signaling the recent escalations in the Middle East may be more significant than previous ones and could imply a more prolonged climb in oil prices, strategists at RBC Capital Markets, led by Peter Schaffrik, wrote in a note on Tuesday.

The moves follow Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hitting two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Defense said killed an Indian crew member and injured eight other Indian and Ukrainian people. The U.S. Central Command wrote in a statement that it completed a five-hour mission against the country, targeting coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and the regime's maritime resources.

-Myra P. Saefong -Nora Redmond

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July 14, 2026 13:40 ET (17:40 GMT)

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