Oil prices ease with investors eyeing Trump-Xi talks, Hormuz risks in Oil & Companies News 14/05/2026 Oil prices eased on Wednesday, retreating after climbing over the previous three sessions, as traders assessed ongoing disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and kept tabs on President Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to China. As of 05:31 ET (09:31 GMT), Brent crude futures expiring in July, the global benchmark, had fallen 0.5% to $107.26 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 0.7% to $101.44 per barrel. Both contracts jumped more than 3% in the previous session, and are well above pre-war levels of around $70 a barrel. Markets have been on edge this week after Trump described a ceasefire with Iran as being on “life support” and rejected Tehran’s latest response to a U.S.-backed peace plan. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally flows, remains largely shut to commercial traffic after Iran tightened restrictions following the outbreak of war earlier this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday it now expects the strait to stay all but closed through late May, forcing a much steeper drawdown in global inventories than previously forecast. The agency estimated that global stockpiles could shrink by 2.6 million barrels per day this year, while Brent prices may average about $106 per barrel in May and June. Trump-Xi talks ahead Markets were also watching Trump’s scheduled summit with counterpart Xi Jinping in China, where discussions are expected to cover a broad range of topics, including trade tensions and Taiwan. But it may be the ongoing fight between the U.S. and Iran that will likely receive much of the attention. Analysts have suggested that China, as a major importer of Iranian crude, could be persuaded to act as a guarantor of a lasting peace deal, although some observers have ramped down expectations that such a breakthrough could come