-- Crude oil prices surged on Thursday, reclaiming ground after dropping below the $100-per-barrel mark in the previous session.
The front-month West Texas Intermediate crude contract gained over 6% at $100.11 per barrel. Brent futures contract added 3.9% to $98.41/bbl.
"Ceasefire-driven sell-off proves short-lived as restricted Strait traffic continues to constrain supply, driving WTI and Brent back towards [$]100," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank noted.
"[T]he market has quickly refocused on the underlying reality: the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively constrained, and the global oil system is operating far from normal," he added.
Data from ship trackers showed that only one oil products tanker and five dry bulk carriers transitioned the waterway in the last 24 hours-a fraction of normal volumes, according to a Reuters' report.
Despite the two-week truce, traffic through the Strait remains at a virtual standstill.
"While the ceasefire creates a window for transit, flows remain conditional and operationally constrained," Kpler noted.
Sparta Commodities' head of research, Neil Crosby said in a note on Thursday that clearing the Strait of naval mines is a long-term endeavor that could take at least four weeks, even under peaceful conditions.
Analysts said that the market's rapid pivot suggests that the initial relief sparked by US-Iran ceasefire is being overshadowed by the grim operational reality of restricted shipping and mounting diplomatic tension.
"Iran has made clear - through both its statements and actions - that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage. That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion," said UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Adnoc Group CEO, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber.
Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media that the US has already violated the 10-point framework proposed by Tehran.
In a Wednesday post on X, Ghalibaf said Washington had breached three clauses of a 10-point proposal put forward by Iran.
On the supply side US crude stockpiles rose by 3.1 million barrels to 464.7 mmbbls in the week ended Apr. 3, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.