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HOUSTON — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright will speak Monday at an energy conference, as financial markets hope President Donald Trump is signalling the Iran war could soon end.
Top oil executives, senior U.S. government officials and influential policymakers from around the world are gathering in Houston, Texas, for S&P Global's annual CERAWeek conference. The gathering takes place as the Iran war has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history.
Wright's comments Monday come after Trump said he would delay strikes on Iran's power plants for five days following "productive" conversations with the Islamic Republic. The president told CNBC that the U.S. is "very intent on making a deal with Iran."
The president had threatened Saturday to bomb Iranian power infrastructure if Tehran did not fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran warned it would retaliate against "all infrastructure of energy, information technology, and desalination facilities" in the region belonging to the U.S. and Israel, according to state media.
Oil tanker traffic through the Strait has plunged as Iran attacks commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. The Strait is the most important sea route for oil exports in the world. About 20% of global supplies passed through the narrow waterway before the war.
The hardline rhetoric from the U.S. and Iran has stoked fears that energy infrastructure in the Middle East will face renewed attacks that exacerbate the supply disruption. But Trump's Monday comments raised market hopes that there still might be a path to de-escalate the war. Oil prices cratered Monday, while Dow futures jumped. The 10-year Treasury yield moved lower.
Brent oil prices, the international benchmark, have surged more than 40% to top $100 per barrel since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
