(March 12): US President Donald Trump said the massive release of emergency oil reserves approved by the International Energy Agency (IEA) would ease energy price pressures while the US seeks to “finish the job” in its campaign against Iran.
The decision, he said during a speech in Kentucky on Wednesday evening, would “substantially reduce the oil prices as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world”.
The confirmation of the emergency oil release did little to calm volatile markets. Oil prices ended the session more than 4% higher on Wednesday after yet further volatility as the US and Iran showed no signs of lowering tensions.
Hours after the president spoke, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the administration planned to to release 172 million barrels from the US emergency oil reserve. Wright said the release would take about 120 days to fully deliver.
There was no break in the conflict overnight in the Middle East, with strikes hitting energy infrastructure. Oil tankers were attacked off the coast of Iraq, killing at least one person, Agence France-Presse reported, while Bahrain said Iran targeted fuel tanks in an attack. Early on Thursday, authorities in Dubai said a drone had struck a building, while Saudi Arabia reported another drone incursion.
Trump repeated his suggestion that the war would end soon, though also suggested American forces would stay as long as it takes to finish its objectives. “We don’t want to leave early, right?” he told the crowd.
See also: Iran escalates attacks on shipping and Dubai, sending oil higher
Asked earlier on Wednesday whether Iran had laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told reporters, “We don’t think so.” The Islamic Republic has placed about a dozen mines in the waterway, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In the Kentucky speech, Trump praised the US military’s prowess in the conflict. “They don’t know what the hell hit them,” he said. “They didn’t expect anything like this.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the IEA approved its largest-ever release of emergency oil reserves, a move to curb surging prices while the critical waterway remains effectively closed. French President Emmanuel Macron subsequently said the discharges would be organised in the coming days.
See also: China tightens fuel export curbs as Iran war hits oil supply
The IEA agreed to discharge 400 million barrels from emergency oil reserves, more than double the 182 million barrels member countries released after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Global crude consumption is slightly more than 100 million barrels a day and Gulf producers have had to cut roughly 6% of that so far.
The Strait of Hormuz has been all but impassable since the opening salvos of the war, which continued for a 12th day with missiles and drones fired from both sides. Several energy giants have curbed production.
Brent crude climbed to trade near US$92 ($117.32) and US crude settled near US$87 a barrel. Escalating rhetoric from global leaders over the war in Iran outweighed an emergency release of crude reserves by wealthy nations.
Meanwhile, the US national average cost for a gallon of gasoline rose to US$3.58 on Wednesday, its highest since May 2024, according to AAA data.
“Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down,” Trump said, adding that it’s “just a matter of war.” Prices rose “less than we thought” and will retreat “more than anybody understands”, he said.
Trump is preparing to invoke Cold War-era powers to clear the way for renewed oil production off the southern California coast, according to a person familiar with the matter. Also on Wednesday, the US International Development Finance Corp announced that Chubb Ltd is partnering with the agency on a US$20 billion reinsurance backstop aimed at reviving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told Axios the war would end soon because there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran, in the latest indication he’s keen to wrap up the campaign. He made similar comments on Monday, however, before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there is no timeline in pursuing the Islamic Republic’s total defeat.
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Iran has told regional intermediaries that for a ceasefire, the US must guarantee that neither it nor Israel would attack the country in the future, according to several officials familiar with the matter.
Switzerland, which acts as the a protecting power for the US in Iran, temporarily shuttered its embassy in Tehran citing increase security risk, with the ambassador and five Swiss staff members leaving the country by land. Switzerland said it would continue that protecting power mandate despite the closure.
The UK Navy said three vessels were hit with suspected projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, underlining the ongoing threat to shipping from the conflict. Oman reported that a Thai-flagged cargo vessel was also targeted.
US Central Command in a social media post on Wednesday warned civilians to “immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating” along the strait.
Iran staged more strikes against Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf countries on Wednesday. The Dubai International Airport briefly halted operations after drones struck the facility, resulting in four injuries at the world’s busiest international hub.
The US and Israel continued to hit targets in the Islamic Republic. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the campaign would continue until “victory is achieved”. While the US and Israel remain publicly united and their militaries are working in tandem, officials have acknowledged that a prolonged campaign may start to drive a wedge between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The total number of deaths reported since the war began has exceeded 2,440, with Iran and Lebanon accounting for the vast majority of fatalities. The US was responsible for a deadly missile strike on an Iranian school in the first days of the war, the New York Times reported, citing preliminary findings from an ongoing military investigation. Iran has said 175 people were killed in the attack.
US officials say Iran’s attacks are down more than 80%, though Washington’s own war effort is showing unexpected signs of strain. Tehran is still hitting valuable military installations and energy infrastructure daily, while its ability to block the Strait of Hormuz remains a key advantage.
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have all cut production because of Hormuz’s de facto closure. Saudi Aramco chief executive officer Amin Nasser warned the impact on global petroleum markets could be “catastrophic”.
Any attempt by the US and Israel to dislodge Iran’s conservative clerics and the well armed and funded Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would be a formidable task. The Guards — which are separate from the regular military — has around 200,000 active troops and another 600,000 volunteers, including the Basij paramilitary militia, US assessments show.
At least 1,787 Iranians have been killed in the war so far, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Mojtaba Khamenei was named Iran’s supreme leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial wave of strikes. Iranian state television has reported that the younger Khamenei had been injured, but the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency cited Yousef Pezeshkian, a son and adviser of Iran’s president, as saying he’d been told he was in good health.
At least seven US service members have died, most of them in the first two days of fighting. There have been several deaths in Gulf countries and Israel.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
