In recent months, substantial and well-timed trades have raised alarms among US lawmakers and legal experts about how decisions related to war and diplomacy might provide certain traders with an advantage in volatile and less transparent derivatives markets.
• Between 1224 GMT and 1225 GMT, traders offloaded a total of 7,990 lots of Brent crude futures, as per LSEG data.
• At the given price during that timeframe, these transactions amounted to roughly $760 million.
• At 1245 GMT, Iran’s foreign minister announced on X that all commercial vessels could pass freely through the Strait of Hormuz for the duration of the ceasefire, aligning with the ceasefire in Lebanon.
• This announcement caused crude prices to drop by as much as 11% shortly afterward.
• Reuters reported on April 7 that wagers totaling around $950 million occurred just hours ahead of the US and Iran revealing a two-week ceasefire. On March 23, investors divested $500 million in oil futures merely 15 minutes before US President Donald Trump declared a delay in attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure, leading to a 15% plunge in crude prices.
• The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is looking into a series of oil futures trades, including those from March 23 and April 7, which were executed just before significant policy changes by Trump concerning the conflict in Iran, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke on Wednesday.
