Crude oil futures settled higher in after-hours trading on Tuesday after Trump said talks with Iran remain ongoing, countering earlier reports of a breakdown in negotiations, while Tehran is reportedly reviewing a US proposal to end the conflict.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced by 1.33% to $93.39 per barrel, while Brent futures rose 0.80% to $95.74/bbl.
Iranian negotiators are reviewing a proposed agreement with the US to halt the conflict in the Middle East, but have not communicated with Washington for a few days, local media reported on Tuesday, after President Trump said peace negotiations were ongoing.
Trump said on Tuesday that reports suggesting that the US and Iran had stopped communicating are "fake and erroneous," adding that talks between Washington and Tehran have continued over recent days.
The US President said that while the direction of the talks remains uncertain, he has told Iran it is "time, one way or another, to make a deal," arguing that the current situation cannot continue indefinitely.
"The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today," Trump said in a social media post on Trust Social.
Soojin Kim, research analyst at MUFG, said oil holds gains as uncertainty surrounding US-Iran negotiations raised concerns that disruptions to energy flows from the Persian Gulf could persist.
Fueling uncertainty, Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered conflicting accounts of a call about the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
On Monday, Trump said he held a call with Prime Minister Netanyahu during which he instructed Israel to halt a planned strike on parts of Beirut, as regional tensions escalated amid continued cross-border violence.
Netanyahu, in a separate statement, said he told the US President that Israel would target locations in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacks against Israel, following ongoing exchanges of fire in southern Lebanon.
With commercial traffic through Hormuz still constrained and geopolitical tensions extending to Lebanon, investors remain focused on the risk of prolonged supply disruptions in a region that normally handles around one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade, said Soojin Kim, research analyst at MUFG.
Market participants' focus remains on Hormuz, as commercial traffic through the strategic waterway remains constrained amid uncertainty over the US-Iran peace deal.
The US Central Command said on Tuesday that US forces redirected 122 Iran-linked commercial vessels, while Iranian media reported that 24 vessels had transited the Hormuz over the past 24 hours.