Oil Recovers After Trump Says No Iran Deal Needed; EIA Shows 4.7 Million-Barrel U.S. Crude Build

Oil prices recovered early losses on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, after President Donald Trump said the United States does not need a deal with Iran, renewing doubts about an end to the eight-month-old war. Government data released at midday showed U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 4.7 million barrels last week, a smaller build than an industry group had reported.

Trump post reverses early slide

"We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" Trump wrote on Truth Social, CNBC reported. He also said he had asked Vice President JD Vance, who had been leading diplomatic efforts, to focus on domestic policy, DTN reported.

Brent crude futures rose as much as 1.8% after the post, briefly moving above $94 a barrel, and the January Brent contract was 1.1% higher at $93.78 at 8:28 a.m. Eastern time, Quartz reported. By late morning, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.32% at $86.81 a barrel and Brent was up 1.14% at $93.82, Reuters reported.

Prices had fallen more than $1 in early Asian trading. Brent was down $1.14, or 1.2%, at $91.62 at 0141 GMT, and WTI was down $1.04 at $85.49, CNBC reported, as traders weighed peace talks over the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. Brent had risen about 1.4% on Wednesday after hitting a two-month low the previous day.

WTI is down 16% in November and Brent has lost 20%, according to CNBC. John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, told CNBC that "the market may have gotten ahead of itself on pricing in a cessation of hostilities."

EIA: crude and fuel stocks rise

Commercial U.S. crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 4.657 million barrels to 414.417 million in the week ended Nov. 6, according to the Energy Information Administration's Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report was released Thursday instead of Wednesday because of the Veterans Day federal holiday. The American Petroleum Institute had reported a 9 million-barrel build, CNBC said.

Inventories were 3.1% below the same week a year earlier. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell 2.649 million barrels to 279.535 million. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose 106,000 barrels to 27.356 million, EIA data showed.

Gasoline stocks rose 1.799 million barrels to 210.757 million, and distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 4.071 million barrels to 103.330 million. Distillate stocks were 6.8% lower than a year earlier.

Refiners processed 17.047 million barrels a day of crude, up 322,000 barrels a day from the prior week. Domestic crude production rose 10,000 barrels a day to 14.013 million. Crude imports climbed to 6.698 million barrels a day, while exports fell 220,000 barrels a day to 3.455 million. Total products supplied, a proxy for demand, fell to 19.759 million barrels a day from 21.962 million.

The EIA's November Short-Term Energy Outlook estimated that commercial crude stocks fell to about 410 million barrels at the end of October, the lowest for that point in the year since 2014, FXEmpire reported. The agency expects Brent near $100 a barrel for the rest of 2026.

Gulf supply and shipping

Saudi Arabia told OPEC that its output climbed 26% in October to one of its highest monthly totals in years, and Iraq said its production reached a wartime peak, Quartz reported, citing Bloomberg. OPEC+ crude production rose in October despite shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Thursday that two oil supertankers were disabled by explosions after hitting naval mines when they ignored warnings against using an "unauthorised route" in the strait on Wednesday night, according to CNBC. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei said Iran would not allow any of its enriched nuclear material to leave the country.

"Market players are vacillating between tentative truces in Ukraine and the Middle East and the ongoing atrocities against energy infrastructure and ships," said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Associates, as quoted by CNBC.

Fuel futures and what comes next

At 9:20 a.m. ET, NYMEX ultra-low sulfur diesel for December delivery was down $0.0054 at $4.2059 a gallon, and front-month RBOB gasoline futures were up $0.0106 at $2.6181, DTN reported. Baker Hughes is scheduled to publish its weekly U.S. rig count on Friday, Nov. 13, the same day the government releases the October producer price index.