Meanwhile, businesses and India report success in finding alternative crude sources: File Image/Pixabay

Oil prices stayed on their upward course Monday with Brent closing around $112 per barrel due to uncertainty over whether the U.S. and Iran would be able to negotiate a peace agreement; however, the gains were said to have been pared back post settlement when U.S. president Donald Trump called off planned attacks on Iran for Tuesday at the request of other Middle East countries.

Trump told reporters, “I was asked by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and some others if we could put it off for two or three days, a short period of time, because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal, and if we can do that, where there’s no nuclear weapon going into the hands of Iran...”

West Texas Intermediate rose 3 percent to close above $108 per barrel.

Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group, said of Monday’s trading, “Headlines remain the primary driver, but there is a growing focus on fundamentals as the market appears less stressed than many would have expected given the scale of supply disruption.”

But although Jeff Currie, co-chairman of Abaxx Markets, told media the oil deficit that worried analysts for most of 2025 will become a shortage in weeks due to the war, business sectors that panicked about fuel shortages have indicated a change of sentiment.

Media reported that European airlines are confident of avoiding a jet fuel shortage this summer thanks to refiners maximizing jet fuel output and buyers diversifying imports with increased shipments from the U.S. and Nigeria.

This contrasted sharply with remarks made by Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, who in mid-April warned that Europe has "maybe six weeks or so" of remaining jet fuel supply.

Also expressing confidence, albeit for different reasons, about its success in navigating a turbulent oil market was India, whose petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed that his country has built adequate energy buffers including holding around 60 days of crude oil.

Vikas Kaushal, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. said this made India structurally equipped to handle potential disruptions after the U.S. allows its key sanctions waiver on Russian seaborne crude purchases to expire; India is also pivoting to alternative suppliers by actively sourcing prompt-loading spot cargoes from the U.S., utilizing Atlantic coast shipping routes, and increasing imports from Oman and Iraq.

Kaushal remarked, “We have not had any difficulty in getting the crudes which we want; of course, I would wish they were coming to me $30 cheaper than what they are coming in at, but that’s a different aspect.”