NEW YORK: Oil prices climbed about three per cent on Tuesday after Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend peace talks with the United States day left before the ceasefire runs out in the Iran war.

Brent futures rose $3, or 3.1pc, to settle at $98.48 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.52, or 2.8pc, to settle at $92.13. Crude futures pared earlier gains of around 5pc.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about 20pc of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, remained broadly halted on Tuesday with only three ships passing the waterway in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed. “You’ve already at this point lost a billion barrels, even if this resolves tomorrow. If it’s another month, it’s 1.5 billion barrels,” Saad Rahim, chief economist at commodity trader Trafigura, said at the FT Global Commodities Summit.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026