Oil prices fall as UAE facility reopens; Trump escort plan gets cool reply

16th Mar 2026 07:15

(Sharecast News) - Oil prices fell back from their highs on Monday after a key UAE loading facility restarted operations following an Iranian drone attack, amid demands from the US for its allies to join a maritime coalition to protect shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

As the US-Israel war on Iran showed no signs of abating, with attacks on Tehran and neighbouring Lebanon continuing, Trump threatened Nato allies who failed to help in the strait and also hinted he might call off a planned trip to China at the end of this month if Beijing also declined.

Benchmark Brent crude fell 1.11% to $102 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 3.64% to $95.12 on reports that crude loading operations had resumed at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after a drone attack.

Trump over the weekend demanded help from other Western nations to protect shipments currently stranded either side of the narrow Strait of Hormuz under the threat of attack from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

He urged China, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to help reopen the key waterway - which accounts for 20% of global shipments - despite the fact they were not involved in the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The US on the weekend struck Iran's Kharg Island, with Trump claiming the attacks "totally demolished" most of the key oil processing facility adding that the military may hit the site "a few more times just for fun".

Trump also issued a thinly veiled threat to US allies if they did not join his proposed maritime coalition, saying it would be "very bad for the future of Nato" if they refused.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times, arguing that Europe and China are heavily dependent on oil from the Gulf, unlike the US.

"I think China should help too because China gets 90% of its oil from the Straits [sic]," Trump said, adding that waiting until the summit would be too late. "We'd like to know before that... we may delay," Trump said, but did not say for how long.

The demand drew a lukewarm response from the countries involved, with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi telling parliament on Monday that Japan had no plans to send warships to the Persian Gulf. French President Emmanuel Macron had said previously that he would be willing to use the French navy as escorts but only if the conflict stabilised.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that "while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war".

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has insisted that the strait was closed, insisting it was open to shipping from all nations except the US, Israel, and their allies.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com