President Trump announces two-week Iran ceasefire
President Donald Trump announced the U.S. reached a ceasefire with Iran for two weeks, just hours ahead of a deadline Trump imposed.
Oil prices are inching closer to $100 per barrel after plunging earlier in the week.
Crude oil rose to about $98 per barrel during the early morning hours of April 9, while the West Texas Intermediate was at nearly $99 a barrel as of 6 a.m. MT/7 a.m. CT on Thursday. Oil had fallen to $95 the day before, as President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran pending the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The national average for a regular gallon of gas continued to soar above $4 on April 9, according to AAA, despite Trump doubling down that Iran would open the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, late on April 8.
America produces more than 13 million barrels of crude oil a day, and only a small fraction of imported oil comes from the Persian Gulf, but prices depend on the global market, reported USA TODAY.
Here’s what to know about oil prices today.
Price of oil per barrel today
Crude oil rose to about $98 per barrel during the early morning hours of April 9.
West Texas crude price
The West Texas Intermediate also rose on April 9, to nearly $99 a barrel as of 6 a.m. MT/7 a.m. CT on Thursday.
Are gas prices expected to go down?
Trump has said that gas prices will go down when the conflict in Iran is over, something echoed by Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics, who was interviewed by USA TODAY.
“If the conflict stops and it has a kind of meaningful end to it, I would expect oil prices to fall relatively quickly,” Schenker told USA TODAY. “I do not think they’re going to go all the way down to where they were.”
In an address to the nation on April 1, the president said the war’s ending will result in a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in relief at the pump.
“They’re going to want to be able to sell oil because that’s all they have to try and rebuild,” Trump said on April 1. “It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down. Stock prices will rapidly go back up.”
USA TODAY contributed to this story.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on x; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
