Investors placed a bet worth about $760 million on a falling oil price around 20 minutes before Iran’s foreign minister announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open. This occurred ahead of major announcements related to the Middle East war. Between 1224 GMT and 1225 GMT, investors sold a combined 7,990 lots of Brent crude futures, according to LSEG data. Based on the price at the time, these trades were valued at approximately $760 million.
At 1245 GMT, Iran’s foreign minister posted on X that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire. This announcement led to a drop in crude prices by as much as 11% shortly thereafter. Reuters reported that on April 7, bets worth around $950 million occurred just hours before the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire. On March 23, investors sold $500 million in oil futures 15 minutes before U.S. President Donald Trump announced a delay in attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, resulting in a 15% drop in crude prices.
