Oil Prices Climb Further Following Trump's Threats to Tehran -- WSJ

Dow Jones04-06

By Ryan Dezember

U.S. oil futures opened higher Sunday evening after President Trump ramped up his threats toward Iran ahead of a Tuesday deadline he has set for the country to allow tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz oil-shipping lane.

-- West Texas Intermediate futures rose to about $115 a barrel in New York, up from Thursday's close of $111.54. (Trading was closed for Good Friday.)

-- Prices at the pump continued to rise over the weekend. AAA reported the national average price of regular unleaded gasoline rose to about $4.11 a gallon, up 38% since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran at the end of February. Diesel hit $5.61 on Sunday, up from $3.49 over that period.

Roughly 20% of the world's oil supply must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. "If they don't do something by Tuesday evening, they won't have any power plants and they won't have any bridges standing," Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

Oil futures on Thursday added $11.42 a barrel, their biggest daily gain since April 2020, when futures bounced back from their first-ever dip into negative territory during the Covid lockdown.

Oil prices had been easing in the early part of last week on expectations for a swift end to the war with Iran. Trump dashed those hopes Wednesday night in a primetime address when he promised to hit Iran "extremely hard" in the coming weeks.

The benchmark U.S. oil price-up about 70% since the bombardment of Iran began-hasn't been this expensive since June 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine shocked energy markets.

Some analysts and traders were anticipating a more conciliatory tone from Trump over the long weekend given the market reaction to his saber-rattling on Wednesday night. The president did the opposite with a profane social-media post aimed at Iran on Sunday.

U.S. stock futures opened Sunday trading lower as did gold futures.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 05, 2026 18:31 ET (22:31 GMT)

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Oil Prices Climb Further Following Trump's Threats to Tehran -- WSJ

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