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Brent crude is not much affected by Trump’s announcement of the project, called Project Freedom.
Published on May 4, 2026
Oil prices were unchanged following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would direct the stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was flat on Monday morning, as traders saw little hope of Trump’s plans to end the biggest energy crisis in history.
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July Brent futures were at $108.25 as of 02:30 GMT, up 0.08 percent.
Mr Trump said on Sunday that the US would “help free” the stranded ships in the Gulf from Monday, but gave no details on how the operation, dubbed “Project Freedom”, would work.
Trump did not specify whether the plan would include an escort by the US military, a request that had previously been denied by administration officials, citing a lack of adequate planning.
Iranian officials have signaled that Tehran does not agree to Trump’s plan, adding further uncertainty to the ceasefire that has been in place between the sides since April 7.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the National Security Commission in Iran’s parliament, on Sunday warned that “any intervention by America” in the crisis would be considered a violation of their agreement.
On Monday, the United Kingdom’s military said it had received reports of a tank being hit by “unidentified missiles” off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, just hours after a passenger ship was reportedly attacked by several small ships in Iran.
None of the crew members were injured, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
June Goh, senior research analyst at Sparta oil market in Singapore, said Trump’s plan appeared to be more about rescuing stranded seafarers than getting seafarers back on the road.
“Oil prices around the world have started to fall sharply, which should sway market sentiment more than political rhetoric to reopen the crisis,” Goh told Al Jazeera.
“Regulating traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will take more than what Project Freedom is providing, while the oil gap will take months to resolve.”
Iran’s threats against shipping in the Gulf have reduced maritime traffic in the strait to a fraction of peacetime levels, depriving it of much of the world’s oil and gas supply.
Goldman Sachs estimates that the effective shutdown of the waterway, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil, and the power outage have reduced global production by 14.5 million barrels.
Brent has risen nearly 50 percent since the start of the war, and analysts warn that prices are expected to remain high long after any peace deal is reached between Washington and Tehran due to the growing supply of unsupplied oil and the need to clear Iran’s waterways.
Only 20 ships crossed the river on Wednesday, the most recent day for which figures were available, according to vessel tracking data monitored by the Windward maritime intelligence platform.
Before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February, the crisis saw 129 visits every day, according to the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNCTAD).
