The US president says he is working with Russia’s Putin to release the nation’s diesel to the market
Published Mon, Oct 12, 2026 · 07:04 AM — Updated Mon, Oct 12, 2026 · 09:08 AM
[SINGAPORE] Oil dropped as traders weighed US President Donald Trump’s claim of an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, even as hostilities escalated across the Middle East.
Brent crude slipped below US$104 a barrel after a two-day gain, while West Texas Intermediate was around US$91.
Trump said in a social media post that the truce was effective immediately. He made a similar claim in September, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no deal had been finalised.
Prices declined despite renewed strikes on Saudi Arabia’s main airport and fresh tanker attacks around the Strait of Hormuz. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was targeted again on Sunday (Oct 11) by Iran-backed Houthi militants, a day after a strike killed 12 people.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have significantly disrupted processing and contributed to tighter global diesel supplies.
Late last week, Trump said he was working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Russian diesel to the market. Prices for the industrial fuel have surged worldwide amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and disruptions from the US-Iran war.
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The price spike has fuelled frustration among voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. Trump has threatened to ban diesel exports and lifted limits on the use of a tax-exempt variety in a bid to lower costs.
International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol urged governments to accelerate pledged diesel releases and consider supplying more to the market.
Current conditions “merit immediate attention”, he said in a statement over the weekend ahead of the agency’s Oct 15 governing board meeting.
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Brent is up around 70 per cent in 2026 so far as the US-Iran war drags on with no clear signs of resolution. Major Middle Eastern oil producers have restored crude exports through Hormuz to near pre-conflict levels, but rising tanker attacks and regional tensions could threaten those flows.
Saudi civil aviation authorities said the latest attack on the Riyadh airport killed one person and injured 12. Before the strike, the kingdom’s foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart discussed the recent escalation in a phone call, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
The attacks come after Saudi-supported forces in Yemen launched a campaign to retake Houthi-held areas and “eliminate” the group.
The Iran-backed rebels opened a new front in the Middle East conflict in July when they began targeting Saudi energy infrastructure and tankers in the Red Sea. BLOOMBERG