Cost Of Oil Goes Up But Trump Insists ‘Prices Are Coming Down’

Donald Trump has insisted that “prices are coming down very substantially” even as the cost of oil continues to increase due to his war in Iran.

The price of oil pushed past $100 a barrel on Wednesday and stock markets fell as three more cargo ships were attacked in the Gulf.

Rates are currently at a four-year high comparable to the number seen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Though the numbers continue to oscillate, as of Thursday morning, Brent crude oil – the most traded of all oil benchmarks – was trading at $97,90, an increase of more than 9%.

Trump’s decision to bomb Iran with Israel almost two weeks ago has sent shockwaves across the global economy.

Iran has retaliated by targeting US military bases in neighbouring countries and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway which carries a fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Thirty-two countries including the UK agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil reserves on Wednesday in the hope of soothing the markets.

But traders are anticipating a “prolonged” conflict, which is why rates remain high.

Trump initially said oil price spike was a “very small price to pay for safety and peace”.

But the president insisted on Wednesday evening that the mass release oil reserves would “substantially reduce oil prices”.

He said: “Prices are coming down very substantially.”

“Oil will be coming down,” the president insisted. “That’s just a matter of war that happens. You can almost predict it.

“I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought. It’s going to come down more than we, than anybody understands.”

The president said the US would “look very strongly” at the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told his supporters in Kentucky: “The straits are in great shape. We’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many.”