Global benchmark oil prices were pulling back from their highest level in nearly four years on Thursday afternoon after President Trump said he wouldn’t send troops to the Middle East, helping to ease energy-market concerns about the Iran conflict.

The front-month Brent futures contract BRN00 BRNK26 was up just 1% to about $108.45 a barrel on Thursday, pulling back from a session high of about $119.13. That was slightly below the $119.50 level reached on March 9, its highest since July 2022, according to FactSet data.

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The price of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CL.1 CLJ26 was also up a modest 0.4% to $95.79, according to FactSet data.

The retreat of oil prices came after Trump said “we’re not putting troops anywhere” when asked Thursday about the movement of forces toward Iran. Trump also added that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack oil and gas fields in Iran. Such strikes triggered retaliatory attacks by Tehran on energy facilities across the Middle East.

The Pentagon has deployed the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid-response force of about 2,200 Marines, to the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. The unit could be used to seize one or more of the islands off the southern coast of Iran to use as leverage or as a base to counter Iranian attacks on commercial shipping.

Earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the U.S. may consider an additional release of crude from its strategic reserves, adding that the U.S. might lift sanctions on Iranian oil. “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he said.

Rising oil prices reflected fears that Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field earlier this week — and Tehran’s targeting of Persian Gulf energy facilities in response — signaled an escalation in the war that will further curtail oil and gas supplies.

Despite playing it down on Thursday, Trump, in a social-media post late Wednesday, had threatened to “blow up” the world’s largest gas field following Israeli strikes on the Iranian site.

“Warnings that oil [Brent] could reach $150 a barrel have resurfaced,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

“Fears of a sustained energy shock have resurfaced after the escalation in the Iran war sent oil and gas prices soaring. The prospect of a longer, more drawn-out conflict is in sharp focus, as both sides ratchet up attacks on energy infrastructure,” Streeter added.

Qatar said on Wednesday that Iranian missile attacks on its core liquefied-natural-gas processing operations at Ras Laffan caused “extensive damage” to ​the energy hub. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed four ballistic missiles launched Wednesday toward Riyadh and an attempted drone attack on a gas ‌facility, according to Reuters. The United Arab Emirates announced midweek that operations had been halted at its Habshan gas facilities.

The halt of much of the Middle East’s gas production is causing a surge in benchmark natural-gas prices in Europe, on concerns that global demand will be chasing less supply. The Dutch TTF natural-gas contract for April TFMIJ26 was jumping 21% on Thursday morning to €66.0 per megawatt hour, the highest since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Robert Schroeder contributed.

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