(Bloomberg) -- Brent crude fell after hitting a four-year high in a session marked by thin trading volumes, as the front futures contract headed for expiry.

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The global benchmark’s June contract dropped more than 3% to trade below $114 a barrel after earlier surpassing $126 — the highest since the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Volumes were low ahead of its expiry at the end of the session, which may explain some of the volatility. Some traders suggested prices were moving closer in line with the next, lower-priced July contract.

The supply disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent energy prices surging, but some of the world’s top oil traders have warned the shock will also erode demand. The euro-area economy unexpectedly slowed at the start of 2026, with soaring energy costs triggered by the Iran war threatening stagflation in the months ahead.

Futures rallied earlier when Axios reported the head of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, would brief US President Donald Trump on military options, signaling a resumption of combat operations is seriously under consideration. Iran remained defiant.

The mixed signals came on a day when traders tend to close positions ahead of the Brent futures expiry.

“It seems that there is a lot of closing of positions, first shorts and now longs, ahead of the expiry of the Brent June contract,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at A/S Global Risk Management.

Most open interest in now on the July contract, which fell 1.8% to $108.45 a barrel.

The yen surged as much as 3% as traders speculated Japan is intervening in the foreign-exchange market, hours after officials delivered a “final” warning to investors against selling the currency.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since the war started at the end of February, choking off flows of crude, natural gas and oil products, and driving up energy prices. The longer it takes for it to reopen, the more consumption is going to have to recalibrate lower to align with less supply.

On Tuesday, Trump discussed steps the US could take to prolong its blockade while minimizing the impact on American consumers at a meeting with oil and trading executives, the White House said.

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A ceasefire has held since early April but recent efforts to get negotiators from the two sides to meet have so far failed, with the US and Iran both maintaining their blockades. Central Command has asked for hypersonic missiles to be sent to the Middle East, which would mark the first time the American army has deployed those weapons.

“Trump has ripped away the security blanket the market was clinging to — the hope that the war was about to end,” said Robert Rennie, head of commodity research at Westpac Banking Corp. “Traders are now being forced to confront a much uglier reality: both sides still think they are winning, neither side has a clear incentive to negotiate, and energy prices are starting to accelerate higher.”

US Central Command has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran, likely including infrastructure targets, according to the Axios report. Admiral Cooper gave the American president a similar briefing on Feb. 26, shortly before the US and Israel started the war, Axios said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Iranians will regard their “advanced technologies” including nuclear and missiles capacities “as their national capital, and will guard them like their maritime, land, and air borders.”

The US is also seeking the forfeiture of two Iran-linked oil tankers that were seized by naval forces. Forfeiture, or confiscating oil cargoes, would represent an escalation of Trump’s economic offensive — and dovetail with Washington’s strategy deployed after the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Trump administration is asking other countries to join an international coalition that would enable ships to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, which cited an internal State Department cable sent to US embassies on Tuesday.

--With assistance from Charlie Zhu, Sarah Chen, Charles Gorrivan and Sherry Su.

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