Energy Secretary Chris Wright's accidental post about Navy tanker escorts triggered a dramatic oil market collapse Tuesday, erasing $84 million in market value within minutes. The tweet claimed the U.S. Navy was escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, causing crude futures to plunge 19% before the post was deleted.
The Department of Energy later acknowledged the video was incorrectly captioned. Benchmark crude fell 12% to $83.45 a barrel, the steepest one-day decline in four years, with an intraday low of $76.73 representing a 36% drop from Sunday's peak. Airlines also suffered, with Delta, American, and United each dropping over 2%. Oil market volatility reflects ongoing uncertainty surrounding Iranian conflict and administration signals, prompting Saudi Aramco's CEO to warn of "catastrophic consequences" if disruptions continue.
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