{"id":66635,"date":"2026-08-16T19:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T23:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/oil-prices-steady-near-89-amid-hormuz-tensions-trump-backchannel-to-irgc-revealed\/66635\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T23:08:12","slug":"oil-prices-steady-near-89-amid-hormuz-tensions-trump-backchannel-to-irgc-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/oil-prices-steady-near-89-amid-hormuz-tensions-trump-backchannel-to-irgc-revealed\/66635\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil Prices Steady Near $89 Amid Hormuz Tensions; Trump Backchannel to IRGC Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">Oil prices<\/a> remain elevated<\/strong> with Brent crude near <strong>$89 per barrel<\/strong> as renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and ongoing tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz disrupt global supply expectations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A secret diplomatic backchannel<\/strong> established by the Trump administration to Iran\u2019s <strong>Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)<\/strong> has been revealed, reportedly using Kurdistan President <strong>Nechirvan Barzani<\/strong> as a primary intermediary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Asian refiners are front-loading crude purchases<\/strong> into November as Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries trigger domestic fuel shortages in Russia, forcing Moscow to import gasoline from India.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Zealand retail activity rebounded<\/strong> in July with card spending rising <strong>1.3%<\/strong>, reversing a prior slump as food price inflation cooled significantly to <strong>0.1%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Anthropic (<a href=\"\/stock\/ANTH\">ANTH<\/a>)<\/strong> reported a major service disruption affecting <strong>Claude AI<\/strong>, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork due to authentication database bottlenecks, though services began recovering late Sunday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions and the Energy Market<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Crude oil<\/strong> prices have stabilized at high levels following a year of significant gains, with <strong>Brent<\/strong> trading near <strong>$89<\/strong> and <strong>WTI<\/strong> around <strong>$83<\/strong>. The market remains on edge as the <strong>Trump administration<\/strong> signals a &quot;maximum economic isolation&quot; strategy against Iran, while simultaneously managing a secret backchannel to the <strong>IRGC<\/strong>. Reports indicate that President Trump utilized Iraqi Kurdish leader <strong>Nechirvan Barzani<\/strong> to bypass traditional negotiators and reach IRGC commanders directly in an attempt to restart stalled nuclear and security talks.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these diplomatic efforts, physical risks in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> have intensified. Recent attacks on tankers belonging to the <strong>Abu Dhabi National Oil Company<\/strong> have raised doubts about a quick resolution to the U.S.-Iran maritime standoff. Treasury Secretary <strong>Scott Bessent<\/strong> indicated that while a deal to reopen the strait could be &quot;near,&quot; the U.S. is prepared to impose &quot;unprecedented&quot; new sanctions this week if Tehran continues to obstruct unrestricted passage.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Supply Shifts and Russian Shortages<\/h2>\n<p>The global refining landscape is shifting as <strong>Ukrainian drone strikes<\/strong> successfully degrade Russian energy infrastructure. Russia, traditionally a top energy exporter, has been forced to import gasoline from <strong>India<\/strong> to address severe domestic shortages. Analysts estimate Russian crude-processing rates have fallen <strong>one-third below seasonal norms<\/strong>, prompting Indian state-owned refiners to secure spot cargoes as far ahead as November to hedge against further supply volatility.<\/p>\n<h2>New Zealand Economic Recovery<\/h2>\n<p>In the South Pacific, <strong>New Zealand<\/strong> economic data provided a rare bright spot. <strong>Retail card spending<\/strong> grew by <strong>1.3% in July<\/strong>, a sharp reversal from the <strong>1.4% contraction<\/strong> seen in June. This recovery was supported by a stabilization in <strong>food prices<\/strong>, which rose only <strong>0.1%<\/strong> for the month compared to a previous <strong>0.6%<\/strong> jump. Economists attribute the spending lift to a combination of lower fuel prices and increased hospitality activity during major international sporting events.<\/p>\n<h2>Tech Sector Disruption<\/h2>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>Anthropic (<a href=\"\/stock\/ANTH\">ANTH<\/a>)<\/strong> faced a significant infrastructure challenge on Sunday. The company&#39;s <strong>Claude AI<\/strong> platform experienced a &quot;Major Impact&quot; event starting around <strong>21:58 UTC<\/strong>, characterized by widespread authentication failures and degraded performance. Engineering teams identified a <strong>routing database bottleneck<\/strong> within the API authentication cluster. While most services were restored within an hour, the outage affected thousands of enterprise users relying on <strong>Claude Code<\/strong> and <strong>Claude Cowork<\/strong> for development and productivity tasks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Oil prices remain elevated with Brent crude near $89 per barrel as renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah 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