The Middle East situation is expected to ease, international oil prices saw a sharp decline, with both American and Brent crude oil dropping by over 11%.

Amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and high global energy market attention on the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, international oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday. Earlier, a message from Chris Wright, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, on social media about U.S. military escorting oil tankers was confirmed to be false information, causing market volatility. Data showed that the U.S. benchmark oil price West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 11.94% on Tuesday to $83.45 per barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude fell 11.28% to $87.80 per barrel. Oil prices plummeted over 17% momentarily after Wright's post when he claimed that the U.S. Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure the flow of oil to global markets. However, the White House quickly denied this claim. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt told reporters on Tuesday, "The U.S. Navy is currently not escorting any oil tankers or ships through the Strait of Hormuz." She also mentioned that the related post was quickly deleted. The U.S. Department of Energy later released a statement saying that the video content had been removed from Wright's official account after staff found errors in the video description. The statement also indicated that President Trump, Secretary of Energy Wright, and the government energy team are closely monitoring the situation and communicating with industry leaders, while also calling on the military to develop more options to ensure the continued openness of the Strait of Hormuz, including the possibility of U.S. Navy escorting oil tankers in the future. Currently, shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz is severely disrupted. Many oil tankers are waiting in fear of attacks from Iran, causing a significant decrease in the transport capacity of this key global energy transit route. Data showed that before the conflict erupted, around 20% of global oil consumption needed to be transported through this narrow waterway. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency is closely monitoring the situation. The IEA will convene an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss releasing emergency oil reserves to alleviate supply shocks. The agency's members include over 30 advanced economies from regions such as Europe, North America, and Northeast Asia, holding a total of around 1.2 billion barrels of strategic oil reserves. Rapidan Energy, an energy consultancy, pointed out that this conflict has triggered one of the largest supply interruptions in the history of the oil industry. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned on Tuesday that if the conflict escalates, it would have "catastrophic consequences" for the global oil market. President Trump also warned on social media on Monday that if Iran attempts to block oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will respond with a stronger action. He said, "If Iran tries to block the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will hit back with great force." Despite the ongoing tension, some market participants believe that the fall in oil prices reflects investors' optimism about the potential recovery of shipping. Bob McNally, President of Rapidan Energy Group, stated that the market generally believes the current situation will not last long, and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz will eventually resume. However, some analysts caution that there is still significant uncertainty. Andy Lipow, President of Lipow Oil Associates, mentioned that the market needs to observe how Iran responds to Trump's statements and whether there will be attacks on energy infrastructure in the coming hours.