Oil prices ended little changed on Thursday after Iran’s state media said about 30 vessels had crossed the Strait of Hormuz,though attacks on one ship and the seizure of another kept stoking concerns over the flow of energy supplies during the Iran war.
Brent crude oil futures settled up 9 cents, or 0.09%, at $105.72 a barrel. The global benchmark touched a session high of $107.13 but traded in negative territory for much of the day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures settled at $101.17, up 15 cents or 0.15%.
On Wednesday, Brent crude futures lost more than $2 a barrel, while WTI futures dropped more than $1 as investors worried about possible U.S. interest rate hikes to fight inflation.
Three people familiar with the White House’s discussions told Reuters that officials are scrambling to contain the economic and political fallout of the war with Iran.
The White House, speaking of U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said both leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy. Xi said the “rejuvenation of China” and “Make America Great Again” can go hand in hand.
“Many are wondering if Iran is allowing the ships to pass to not tip the scales of the talks away from China’s protection of Iran,” said Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics.
Xi expressed interest in purchasing more U.S. oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the White House. China, never a big buyer of U.S. crude, has not imported any since May 2025 due to a 20% import tariff imposed during the trade war.
The strait has been largely shut since the Iran war broke out at the end of February. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said 30 vessels had crossed the strait since Wednesday evening, still far short of the typical daily total of 140 before the war.
Tehran also appears to have tightened control over the strait, cutting deals with Iraq and Pakistan to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the region.
On Thursday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency cited a source saying Iran had begun allowing transit for some Chinese vessels. Before the Fars report, a Chinese supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude sailed through the strait on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months.
A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos has also passed through the strait, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday, the second instance of a Japan-linked oil ship making it through.
However, an Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa to the United Arab Emirates was sunk on Thursday off the coast of Oman while British maritime security agency UKMTO reported that “unauthorised personnel” had boarded a ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, and were steering it toward Iran.
“The growing number of vessels allowed through has a more tangible impact on sentiment than on the actual supply-demand balance,” PVM oil market analyst Tamas Varga said.
“Whilst it might contribute to setting a price ceiling in the immediate future, it is not the desired recipe to send oil prices meaningfully lower.”
Citing the war and the closure of the strait, the International Monetary Fund said the global economy is clearly moving into a middle “adverse scenario,” which would see global real GDP growth falling to 2.5% this year from 3.4% growth in 2025.
Global oil supply will fall short of total demand this year as inventories are drained at an unprecedented pace, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels to 452.9 million barrels for the week ended May 8 on rising exports, the EIA said, although distillate stockpiles rose, in opposition to expectations of a draw.