Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026.
Stringer | Reuters
Oil prices rose on Monday morning as plans for a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran were finalized again.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also reportedly boarded two cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions in one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints remain high.
international benchmark brent Crude oil futures for June delivery rose 2.4% to $107.92 a barrel by 3:50 a.m. ET. US West Texas Intermediate futures (for June delivery) also rose 2.2% to $96.48.
“Oil prices are rising this morning after attempts to get peace talks between the US and Iran back on track have collapsed, extinguishing hopes that energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz will resume soon,” Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at Dutch bank ING, said in a research note.
“The lack of progress means the market is getting tighter by the day and oil prices need to be repriced at higher levels,” he added.
Despite great uncertainty, Iran has presented the United States with a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, hinting at a postponement of nuclear negotiations, Axios reported on Monday, citing a U.S. official and two sources familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump on Saturday canceled plans to send U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan, to negotiate with Iran.
“Too much time wasted traveling and too much work! On top of that, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“No one knows who is in charge, including them,” the president said. “And we have all the cards and they have none! If they want to talk, they just call!!!”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Islamabad over the weekend, but only met with Pakistani officials before departing.
“There are no plans for talks to take place between Iran and the United States,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Bakaei said in a social media post late Friday.
— CNBC’s Sarah Whitten, Azhar Sukri and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.
