Trump fires back that the U.S. will continue striking Iran "if we want": File Image/Pixabay

Despite the International Energy Agency announcing an unprecedented release of 400 million barrels, traders who in the previous session were buoyed by the expectation that the U.S./Iran war would end soon were spooked on Wednesday by rhetoric from global leaders – and caused a near-5  percent climb in oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate settled above $87 per barrel and Brent traded 4.8 percent higher to $91.98 per barrel after Iran told intermediaries that the U.S. and Israel must promise never to attack them again if a ceasefire in the current hostilities is to be achieved.

For his part, U.S. president Donald Trump said his country could strike even more targets in Iran “if we want,” which some interpreted as conflicting with his earlier statement that the military operation is winding down.

As for the IEA’s emergency release of oil, Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, said, “With 15 to 20 million barrels a day of Persian Gulf supply currently offline, the plan provides cushion for about a month; it’s a good start, though if the Iran conflict were to last beyond March, additional releases may be needed.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that it will not allow “a litre of oil” through the Strait of Hormuz, and warned that “You will not be able to artificially lower the price of oil: expect oil at $200 per barrel….the price of oil depends on regional security, and you are the main source of insecurity in the region.”

In response, Trump encouraged vessels to navigate the Hormuz passage, stating, “I think you’re going to see great safety, and it’s going to be very, very quickly.”

Also on Wednesday, sources told media that Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is asking Asian buyers for crude loading plans for April for both its key export port in the Gulf and the export alternative on the Red Sea; with Hormuz blocked, the Saudis have diverted part of its crude oil exports from the Ras Tanura export terminal in the Gulf that needs free-flowing traffic through Hormuz to the Yanbu export port on the Red Sea.

Finally, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated on Wednesday that the European Union is considering emergency relief measures in the wake of the energy price spike amid the Middle East war.

She added that the price spike in oil and gas prices during the ten days of war have already cost the European taxpayer an additional 3 billion euros, or $3.5 billion, in fossil fuel imports, “So we must deliver relief now.”