Categories: Energy

Oil prices steady after Trump responds to Iran’s conditions for peace deal

Oil ‌prices steadied at more than one-week highs on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, amid fading hopes of a deal between the United States and Iran to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump demanded compensation for damage the U.S. has incurred.

Brent crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.11%, to $87.62 a barrel by 0405 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 5 cents, or 0.06%, to $82.08 a ⁠barrel.

Both benchmarks rose more than 5% on Monday to their highest since July 31, after Trump responded to Iran’s conditions for a peace deal with his own demands that Iran pay compensation for people killed in wars, attacks and protests, which is likely to complicate efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Later in the day, Trump added that the U.S. had control of the strait and had swept the strategic oil waterway for Iranian mines.

The chief market analyst at KCM Trade, Tim Waterer, said: “There appears to be a gulf, no pun intended, between the U.S. and Iran over what any agreement would actually look like.

“As a result, some of the optimism that built up ‌last ⁠week is being unwound, giving oil prices a decidedly bid tone.”

IG’s analyst Tony Sycamore told Reuters that markets will likely remain in a state of morbid detachment if oil continues to slip through both blockades via ship-to-ship transfers and ⁠overland routes.