Meanwhile, Trump teases major Hormuz breakthrough late Tuesday: File image/Pixabay

Ongoing uncertainty over when the Strait of Hormuz would re-open caused oil trading on Tuesday to whiplash away from the earlier session’s steep descent and end with a 4.6 percent gain for Brent, settling near $104.50 per barrel.

Prices were also supported by several Gulf Arab countries saying they would join the U.S./Iran war if Tehran attacked their water and power infrastructure; and also by U.S. president Donald Trump stating that 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division would be deployed to the region.

Aaron Stein, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, remarked, “The military isn’t giving any indication that this is winding down; far from it: everything I’m seeing and hearing from DoD is that they’re planning for a longer campaign.”

Meanwhile, speaking at the annual CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, chief executive officer of the Kuwait Petroleum Corp., told delegates that it will take as many as four months for Gulf producers to resume full output due to the war; other speakers predicted that the disruption will spread to Europe and Asia in April.

The International Energy Agency in it latest monthly report estimated that Gulf countries “have cut total oil production by at least 10 million barrels per day [bpd],” and “in the absence of a rapid resumption of shipping flows, supply losses are set to increase."

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs revised its 2026 oil price outlook by raising its Brent forecast to $85, with WTI lower at $79 for the rest of the year.

It further projected that Brent would average $110 through the end of April due to the Hormuz closure.

Yet, these outlooks may prove to be wildly incorrect if a statement made by Trump after Tuesday’s trading closed proves to be valid.

In announcing that Iran “wants to make a deal with the U.S.,” Trump stated that the country’s leadership gave the U.S. a "significant prize" related to the Strait of Hormuz and the flow of oil.

He went on to say, "That meant one thing to me — we're dealing with the right people… It was a very nice thing they did. … They said they were going to do it, and it happened, and they're the only ones that could have done it."

When asked about control of Hormuz, Trump said the U.S. will “have control of anything we want.”