Global oil prices rebounded sharply on Thursday as traders turned sceptical about the durability of the Pakistan-brokered US-Iran ceasefire announced on April 8. Brent crude rose $2.60, or 2.74%, to $97.35 a barrel at 00:48 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate added $3.02, or 3.2%, to $97.43.
Both benchmarks had fallen sharply the previous session, briefly dipping below $100 for the first time in days. WTI’s slump on April 8 was its steepest single-day decline since April 2020, when pandemic-era demand collapse crashed markets. The rebound reversed a large share of those losses as fresh reports of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah rocket fire and Iranian sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz filtered into the market.
“Transit through the Strait of Hormuz is not suddenly risk-free. It remains at Iran’s discretion,” Standard Chartered analysts said in a note cited by Reuters. Haitong Futures pointed to “mounting doubts” about whether the ceasefire would hold beyond its two-week duration, particularly after Hezbollah’s first rocket attack and reports of damage to Iranian oil pipeline infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE also reported intercepting missiles and drones during the previous 24 hours, reinforcing the sense that the Gulf remains an active combat theatre despite the nominal ceasefire. Iran has separately told shipping how to navigate around sea mines near Larak Island.
For Sri Lanka, the rebound complicates the government’s planned ramp-down of fuel rationing. The April 10 no-confidence motion against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody comes as the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation still has only thin crude stocks at Sapugaskanda. Any further spike threatens the relief package announced in Parliament and raises the cost of the diesel subsidy just days before Avurudu.
