Oil prices plunged Friday after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open,” a move that traders immediately treated as a loosening of supply worries.
What changed in the Strait of Hormuz
The drop was noticeable fast.
The West Texas Intermediate benchmark fell by $10.33, or 10.91%, to $84.36.
Brent, the international standard, dropped $8.89, or 8.94%, to $90.05 a barrel.
The reason seems pretty straightforward on paper: when the choke point that matters for global shipping looks less constrained, markets react.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, posted on X that, “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep.
of Iran.” Misryoum newsroom reported the statement as part of the broader ceasefire posture between Israel and Lebanon.
There’s still plenty of caution underneath, though.
A U.S.
blockade of Iranian ports and vessels remains in effect, President Trump said on Truth Social.
Misryoum editorial desk noted that the U.S.
Central Command said that “19 ships have complied with direction from U.S.
forces to turn around and return to Iran” since the blockade started earlier this week.
And if you listened to the shift in the market the way some people do—like standing outside a gas station where the air smells faintly like hot asphalt—you could almost feel the difference. Friday, the price tags finally moved, after days of being stuck at the edge of people’s budgets.
Relief at the pump as crude eases
U.S.
motorists also got some relief.
Average gasoline prices fell to $4.08 per gallon for regular on Friday, after hitting $4.17 on April 9, the highest level so far this year, according to AAA data shown to Misryoum.
Gas prices tend to track crude closely, with crude accounting for 51% of the cost of a gallon of gas.
Oil had been under pressure since the Middle East war began on Feb.
28, at times brushing up against nearly $120 a barrel.
Misryoum analysis indicates the spike was tied to a slowdown in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for oil shipments where one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
So Friday’s move—if it holds—could matter beyond just the headline numbers.
Markets seemed to like the signal, or at least the quick dip in risk. Stocks rallied Friday with the S&P 500 up 1.09%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.84% as of 2 p.m. ET. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.28%.
Meanwhile, the politics around Iran also floated back into the conversation.
In another positive sign for investors, Misryoum newsroom reported that President Trump signaled the U.S.
could be closer to reaching an agreement with Iran.
He told Bloomberg on Friday that a deal to end the war is mostly complete, and that Iran has agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely—one of the key points of contention in negotiations.
He also said on Thursday he’s open to extending the two-week ceasefire agreed to by the U.S.
and Iran on April 8.
There’s a lot happening at once, and markets sometimes love that—sometimes they don’t.
For now, crude is down hard, gas prices are easing, and the Strait of Hormuz is, in Iran’s words, “completely open.” Still, with the U.S.
blockade in place and ships reportedly turning back, it’s the kind of promise that traders will keep testing—maybe… repeatedly, because nobody wants to get caught blinking.
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