$500M Oil Price Bets Placed Minutes Before Trump's Iran Delay Announcement
Traders made massive bets on oil prices just before U.S. President Donald Trump announced a five-day delay to attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure, which sent markets plunging.
The trades, worth over $500 million, were placed between 10:49 and 10:50 GMT in Brent and WTI crude futures, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Reuters calculations. This was only 15 minutes before Trump's post on Truth Social at 11:05 GMT.
The announcement triggered a powerful selloff in oil and natural gas markets, with Brent crude falling as much as 15% in minutes to around $99 a barrel from $112 prior to the trades. WTI crude also fell to $86 from closer to $99 before the post.
With over 13 million barrels of oil traded in 60 seconds at 11:05 GMT, the volume was far larger than earlier in the day, and turnover dwarfed what followed Trump's post. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment on the trades.