New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Amid war de-escalation hopes in West Asia, crude oil prices drop almost 6 per cent in early trade on Tuesday, after crossing the $100 a barrel on Monday.

While Brent futures dropped $6.51, or 6.6 per cent, to $92.45 a barrel, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $6.12, or 6.5 per cent, to $88.65.

The oil prices fell after President Donald Trump said that the US campaign against Iran would end “very soon”, defining victory as the point at which Tehran no longer has the capacity to develop weapons that could threaten the United States, Israel, or its allies.

Trump warned Iran against attempting to disrupt global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes. “So the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe,” he said. “We have a lot of Navy ships there.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage linking the Gulf to the Arabian Sea and is one of the world’s most important oil transit chokepoints. A large share of crude exports from Gulf producers passes through it, making any threat to the route a major concern for global energy markets.

The United States launched major strikes against Iranian targets earlier this month as part of a joint military campaign with Israel aimed at degrading Tehran’s military and nuclear capabilities.

Earlier, oil prices hit session highs of $119.50 for Brent and $119.48 for WTI, their highest since 2022.

The impact of the rise in global crude oil prices on the rate of inflation in India is not estimated to be substantial at this point, as the country’s inflation is near the “lower bound”, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on Monday.

The price of crude oil that India imports has been on a declining trajectory for the past one year, till the geopolitical clashes commenced in West Asia on February 28, 2026, the Finance Minister said in an answer to a question in the Lok Sabha.

—IANS

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