Oil prices are seeing dramatic swings as traders struggle to make sense of mixed messages about the impact of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, on Tuesday plunged 17 percent to fall below $80 a barrel, then rebounded to near $90 after US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright posted on the X platform – but then quickly deleted – a claim that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later told reporters that there had been no armed escort through the strait, which has been effectively closed to shipping in the region due to Iranian threats.

Oil prices fell sharply again early on Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the International Energy Agency was considering the largest release of oil reserves in its history to help keep global supplies stable.

Brent crude futures were hovering below $85 a barrel as of 02:00 GMT following the news.

After rising as much as 50 percent to nearly $120 a barrel before falling, oil prices still remain about 17 percent higher than they were before the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28.

Global energy markets have been on tenterhooks amid the near halt of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the global oil supply transits, as well as attacks on energy facilities across the Middle East.

The effective closure of the waterway has forced Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq to cut oil production amid a growing stock of barrels with nowhere to go and depleting storage capacity.