Meanwhile, Russia makes refinery output and other energy data off-limits to the press: File Image/Pixabay.

U.S. president Donald Trump‘s weekend rejection of the Iran ceasefire deal that would reportedly re-open the Strait of Hormuz caused jitters among oil traders who took the Islamic Republic’s offer at face value – and who caused Brent on Monday to settle up 96 cents to $105.28 per barrel. 

West Texas Intermediate settled up 19 cents at $92.60 per barrel.

Oil’s gains were said to be capped by U.S. officials stating that mediators were still working with Iran and the United States to end the months-long war between the two countries and “open” the strait - even though Saudi Arabia transported over 100 million barrels of crude through the waterway in a 10-day period, in addition to U.S. forces helping nearly 1,500 vessels transit the strait since early May.

A White House official told media that Trump is open to sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds to Iran if concrete progress is made towards a nuclear deal.

But Cornelia Meyer, CEO of Meyer Resources, said the energy market is pricing in a “clear and present danger” of a return to U.S.-Iran hostilities after the midterm elections, which was when Trump stated that the war would conclude: she added, “I think everybody hopes that this is not the case because, you know, we are living off borrowed barrels.”

Coinciding with Meyer's remarks was the disclosure on Monday that U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve stocks stood at 284.6 million barrels for the week ending September 18; other data showed  that the reserve fell further the following week, to 283.8 million barrels, the lowest level since October 1982.

Meanwhile in Russia, president Vladimir Putin signed an order making refinery production figures, export contracts, and tanker routes off-limits to public reporting; the stated reason for the initiative was unfriendly actions by Washington and its allies.

Customs statistics and planned sales volumes on commodity exchanges were also declared off-limits, and Oilprice.com mused that the order came during “a rough year for Russian refineries: Ukrainian drones have hit a Russian refinery every three days on average through the first eight months of 2026, and International Energy Agency figures put national throughput at 3.8 million barrels per day by June, down 30 percent from a year earlier and the lowest level in over two decades.”