Meanwhile, Russia continues to profit from the U.S./Iran hostilities: File Image/Pixabay.

The generally positive development of U.S. president Donald Trump scheduled to discuss trade issues with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping caused oil trading on Wednesday to dip minimally, following notable gains in the previous session.

Brent closed below $106 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate traded near $101 per barrel.

But even though Trump told media trade talks with China on Thursday will be prioritized over discussions about the war with Iran, tensions with Beijing remained intact, with Washington threatening more sanctions over the sale of Iran oil to China.

Meanwhile, although the U.S. and Iran have made little progress in agreeing on a peace proposal since a ceasefire was declared in early April, Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group, said, “As long as the path still appears to be leaning toward diplomacy rather than outright escalation, the market remains focused on the endgame — namely when flows ultimately resume — even as that timeline continues to slip.”

Babin was referring to the flow of crude and other commodities through the Strait of Hormuz, which the Energy Information Administration says fell by nearly 6 million barrels per day (bpd) in Q1 2026.

As for the impact of the war on motorists, the International Energy Agency on Wednesday warned that price spikes over the peak summer demand period are inevitable: “Mounting supply losses from the Strait…are depleting global oil inventories at a record pace,” it wrote.

The IEA went on to state that “The petrochemical and aviation sectors are currently most affected, but higher prices, a weaker economic environment and demand-saving measures will increasingly impact fuel use.”

Martijn Rats, commodities strategist at Morgan Stanley, told clients in a note that the war will remove another billion barrels this year as the tanker fleet is repositioned and Middle East refineries are repaired: “That this is the largest oil supply disruption in the history of the oil market is neither an exaggeration nor controversial.”

In other war-related oil news on Wednesday, high prices were credited as the reason why Russia’s oil export revenues have continued to rise despite lower production: the IEA reported that the former Soviet Union’s export revenues reached $19.18 billion in April - a $180 million increase from March and a huge jump of $6.28 billion compared to April 2025.

This was despite total output falling by 460,000 bpd to 8.8 million bpd, while total exports declined by 90,000 bpd to an average of 7.03 million bpd.