Oil prices currently hover below the $100 mark Wednesday as commodity investors continue to grapple with uncertainty after Trump’s announcement of peace talks with Iran at the start of the week on Monday, which he called “good and productive conversations”.
Iranian spokesperson and army official Ebrahim Zolfaghari has publicly denied that any such negotiations are in place, saying, “Don’t call your failure an agreement.”
🚨 BREAKING: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard spokesman has rejected President Trump’s claims that negotiations are underway, saying the U.S. is “negotiating with yourselves.”#Iran #USA #Geopolitics #MiddleEast #BreakingNew
pic.twitter.com/BdrOe37maz— Coin Headlines (@coinheadline) March 25, 2026
Source: TruthSocial
There is now speculation on whether Trump’s mention of peace talks sparked insider trading. The BBC observed a disproportionate increase in the number of trades for the WTI crude contract just minutes before the U.S. president made his announcement. Trades for the WTI crude oil contract jumped to 2,168, valued at $170 million.
The same happened with Brent crude, with trades jumping from 20 to 1,650 in a span of two minutes. The total value of contracts was estimated at $150 million.
Oil prices are now depressed, having lost their rally minutes after the mention of peace talks was made.
Iran still continues to target valuable infrastructure in the Gulf, attacking parts of Kuwait, Qatar Bahrain, the U.A.E., and other countries after Israel launched an attack on the country’s South Pars gas field, at which point Brent was still trading at an all-time high of $119 per barrel.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite Trump’s threat to attack Iran’s power plants if it did not open within 48 hours—after which Asian markets bore the brunt of equity downturn while gold lost its lustre as a safe haven asset in its 4th consecutive week of selloff.
Major commodity indexes are now in the red
- WTI crude: $87.07 (-5.72%)
- Brent crude: $98.17 (-6.05%)
- Murban crude: $102 (-14.91%)
- Natural gas: $2.89 (-1.80%)
- Gasoline: $2.96 (-5.89%)
- Heating oil: $3.993 (-6.995%)
- WTI Midland: $89.35 (-6.04%)
As of now, the only notable indexes still rallying are Urals oil, the Indian basket, and the OPEC basket, up by 9.16%, 4.74%, and 1.67%, respectively.