{"id":63315,"date":"2026-06-17T10:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/oil-prices-surge-as-us-crude-stocks-hit-40-year-low-trump-signals-progress-on-iran-and-india-deals\/63315\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:38:10","slug":"oil-prices-surge-as-us-crude-stocks-hit-40-year-low-trump-signals-progress-on-iran-and-india-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/oil-prices-surge-as-us-crude-stocks-hit-40-year-low-trump-signals-progress-on-iran-and-india-deals\/63315\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil Prices Surge as US Crude Stocks Hit 40-Year Low; Trump Signals Progress on Iran and India Deals"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>US <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">crude oil<\/a> inventories plunged by 8.26 million barrels<\/strong>, far exceeding the estimated draw of 3 million barrels and sending stockpiles to their <strong>lowest levels since 1985<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President Trump announced the US is &quot;very close&quot; to a trade deal with India<\/strong> and confirmed plans to visit the country following high-level talks with PM Modi at the G7.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oil prices extended gains with Brent trading above $80\/bbl<\/strong> after data showed a critical inventory low at the Cushing storage hub and a 1.6 million barrel drop in Cushing stocks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intel (<a href=\"\/stock\/INTC\">INTC<\/a>) saw its valuation soar<\/strong>, with its price-to-sales ratio jumping from under 2x to over 11x in just one year amid a broader tech rally.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The CIA has reportedly warned President Trump of skepticism regarding Iran&#39;s intentions<\/strong>, even as the President expressed optimism that a nuclear deal will be signed and the Strait of Hormuz will open.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Energy Markets Shaken by Massive Inventory Draw<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a massive <strong>8.26 million barrel drop in crude oil inventories<\/strong>, significantly higher than the 7.22 million barrel draw in the previous period. This decline has pushed total U.S. crude stocks, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), to their <strong>lowest levels since 1985<\/strong>, signaling a tightening global supply.<\/p>\n<p>Oil prices reacted sharply to the news, with <strong>Brent crude climbing above $80 per barrel<\/strong>. Markets are particularly concerned about the <strong>Cushing storage hub<\/strong>, where inventories fell by <strong>1.6 million barrels<\/strong>, reaching what analysts describe as a &quot;critical low.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Trump Optimistic on Geopolitics and Trade<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking from France, President Trump stated that the U.S. is nearing a <strong>major trade deal with India<\/strong>. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a &quot;tough negotiator&quot; and a &quot;great friend,&quot; noting that India is currently <strong>investing significantly in U.S. factories and infrastructure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding Iran, Trump claimed that the Iranian leadership &quot;wants to make a deal&quot; and suggested a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is already &quot;pretty detailed.&quot; However, <strong>CIA Director John Ratcliffe has reportedly expressed skepticism<\/strong>, warning the administration that Tehran may not honor nuclear concessions despite the President&#39;s public confidence.<\/p>\n<h2>Corporate and Labor Market Shifts<\/h2>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>Intel (<a href=\"\/stock\/INTC\">INTC<\/a>)<\/strong> has experienced a dramatic re-rating by investors. The company&#39;s <strong>price-to-sales ratio has skyrocketed from under 2x to over 11x<\/strong> within a twelve-month period, reflecting massive capital inflows into U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the <em>Financial Times<\/em> reports a surge in business school applications as a <strong>weakening job market<\/strong> pushes recent graduates to delay their careers. Finance-specific Master&#39;s programs are seeing a particular influx of students seeking to wait out current economic volatility.<\/p>\n<h2>Domestic Policy and Security<\/h2>\n<p>President Trump has tied the renewal of the <strong>FISA surveillance law<\/strong> to the passage of the <strong>Save America Act<\/strong>, insisting on stricter voting regulations before approving national security measures. He also addressed recent maritime tensions, offering condolences for <strong>Indian sailors killed in U.S. Navy strikes<\/strong> while emphasizing the need for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open for the global economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways US crude oil inventories plunged by 8.26 million barrels, far exceeding the estimated draw of 3 million barrels [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[4086,4180,4450,4461,5156,5670,6689,18418],"class_list":["post-63315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-india","tag-trump","tag-spr","tag-crude-oil","tag-mou","tag-eia","tag-intel-intc-stock-intc","tag-iran-deal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}