Hormuz disruption: ‘Trump manipulated oil prices,’ says economist Anas Alhajji after deleted post by US Energy Secy

Strait of Hormuz disruption: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s now-deleted post about the US Navy successfully escorting an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz was nothing but US’ manipulation of oil prices, said energy economist Anas Alhajji. 

What Anas Alhajji said was this: “Oil prices declined sharply today, not because of fundamental changes or developments in the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, but because of manipulation by the Trump administration,” he wrote in his Substack. He highlighted theories that the Treasury Department was heavily involved in this, and that the Department of Energy “made a large crude purchase when prices dropped to be delivered to Cushing”. Cushing in Oklahoma is a key hub in the oil industry in the US, and connects major pipelines across the country and acts as the delivery point for oil futures contracts.

“Yesterday prices plunged when President Trump alluded that the war is ending, then prices recovered when nothing changed on the ground,” he said.

What happened was this: Wright wrote on X that the US had facilitated a shipment of oil out of Hormuz. "President Trump is maintaining the stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran," Wright posted, further adding, "The ​US Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” 

As a result, what happened was this: Oil prices temporarily sank lower in midday trade. Brent futures fell $11.16, or 11 per cent, to settle at $87.80 a barrel, and US West Texas ‌Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $83.45 a barrel, down $11.32, or 11.9 per cent – both logging the biggest single-day percentage loss since March 2022, after rocketing to four-year highs a day earlier.

Andrew Lipow, founder of Lipow Oil Associates said that this was the market reacting to the possibility that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen. "From the administration’s perspective, the move also carries clear optics: lower oil and gasoline prices help ease consumer pain,” he told Reuters.

But then came the U-turn: Wright removed the post. Also, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the US has not escorted any oil tankers or vessels through the strait. A department spokesperson added that the video was deleted from Wright’s account “after it was determined to be incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff”. 

A report in Reuters that quoted sources said that the US Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz due to the high risk of attacks. The report cited three industry sources who said that the US Navy held regular briefings with the shipping and oil industry counterparts during which they said they were unable to provide escorts during this time.