-- Crude oil futures settled higher in after-hours trading on Thursday in a volatile session as Iranian missile attacks in Kuwait and limited tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz failed to allay fears of further supply disruptions amid a fragile US-Iran ceasefire.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 3.78% to $97.98 per barrel, while Brent futures were up 2.30% to $96.70/bbl.
Kuwait said Thursday that it intercepted drone attacks and that some vital facilities were targeted.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy, meanwhile, said the nation's oil production capacity has been cut by about 600,000 barrels per day due to Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.
Fueling bullish sentiment, President Trump said on Thursday that Iran should stop charging tolls to vessels transiting the Hormuz, as traffic via the strategic waterway remains largely constrained despite a ceasefire deal that included an agreement to open it.
"There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!"
On Thursday, the head of the UAE energy giant Adnoc said Hormuz was still closed and that Iran is restricting passage via the strategic waterway.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Adnoc's managing director and group CEO, said an estimated 230 vessels were currently loaded with oil and ready to sail, but faced uncertainty over transit.
The IMO also estimated that about 2,000 vessels, including oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers, and cargo ships, are currently stranded in the Arabian Gulf, along with around 20,000 seafarers.
In an earlier post on Thursday, Trump said that US military forces will remain deployed in the Middle East until Iran fully complies with the "real agreement," noting that any breach would trigger a military campaign larger than anything seen before.
"All US ships, aircraft, and military personnel...will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until the real agreement reached is fully complied with," Trump said in a social media post on Truth Social.
However, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said negotiations to resolve the Middle East conflict make no sense following ceasefire violations of three clauses of the proposed ceasefire.
US Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead an American delegation in talks with Iran in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, while Tehran's delegation is due to arrive on Thursday, Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said in a post on X.