Oil Prices Rise as Trump Fails to Provide Timeline for When Iran War Will End

Oil prices have climbed from their intraday lows and are back in the green, following Trump’s statement, which signaled that the Iran war may drag on for a while. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has pared its gains from earlier in the day as the ongoing conflict continues to spark significant volatility for the markets.

Oil Prices Climb As Trump Signals That Iran War Would Drag On

TradingView data show that Brent crude oil futures are currently trading at around $103, up on the day from an intraday low of around $98. U.S. oil futures, WTI, are up over 2% on the day, rising to an intraday high of $99.

The rise in oil prices today follows Trump’s statement, which signaled that the Iran war is likely to drag on for a while. When asked about when the war will end in an interview with Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade, the U.S. president said, “When I feel it—feel it in my bones.”

This marks a shift in tone from earlier this week when Trump said that the Iran war could soon end as the war was ‘pretty much complete.’ During the interview, the president also revealed that they plan to hit Iran “very hard” over the next week. “We’ve already damaged them so badly it would take years for them to ever rebuild,” he added.

Notably, the interview aired just as the U.S. eased sanctions on Russian oil, the latest move to curb the volatile oil prices. Meanwhile, during a briefing today, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth struck a similar tone as Trump, stating that today marks the highest number of strikes that the U.S. has conducted against targets in Iran.

Bitcoin has pared its gains as oil prices climb. The leading crypto had surged above $73,000 earlier in the day but is now trading at $71,000, up less than 1%, according to data from TradingView.

Prices Could Reach Highs In Previous Crises

Investment bank RBC Capital has warned that the U.S.-Iran war could last longer than expected, predicting it would send oil prices above previous highs set during similar crises. Helima Croft, the head of global commodity strategy, noted that several experts suggested a combination of factors could prolong the conflict into the spring.

As CoinGape reported, hopes that the Iran war would end before June continue to fade. Polymarket data shows that the odds of the conflict ending by June 30 have dropped to 75% from as high as 80% earlier this week. With the market pricing in a prolonged conflict, RBC predicts that oil prices could climb above the 2022 Ukraine war highs if the conflict extends for several more weeks.

“We believe that we will exceed the Russia/Ukraine oil price highs of $128/bbl in 2022 if the war continues for another three to four weeks,” Croft said. She added that if the war lasts for several months, then prices could surge above the 2008 record high of $146 per barrel.