The oil market navigates a shaky ceasefire
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Middle East ceasefire is strained, the FT’s Jamie Smyth explains how the uncertainty is hitting oil markets and Pakistan has become a mediator between the US and Iran. Plus, the data chief of the NHS has vowed to ignore controversy about Palantir while setting out plans to deeper embed the US company’s technology.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Middle East ceasefire under pressure over Israeli strikes on Lebanon
Saudi Arabia’s key east-west oil pipeline hit as Middle East energy attacks continue
Iran demands crypto fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire
White House pushed Pakistan to broker temporary Iran ceasefire
NHS data chief pushes for deeper rollout of Palantir technology despite outcry
Note: The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts
Today’s FT News Briefing was hosted and edited by Marc Filippino, and produced by Saffeya Ahmed, Victoria Craig, and Sonja Hutson. Our show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, and Michael Lello. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s Global Head of Audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Thursday, April 9th, and this is your FT News |
| 0:07.1 | briefing. The ceasefire in the Middle East is on shaky ground, and the oil markets are watching |
| 0:12.9 | all this uncertainty very closely. Plus, Pakistan sees an opportunity to bring two adversaries |
| 0:18.7 | together. I think Pakistan sees this as an opportunity to show the world that it's a useful |
| 0:23.6 | country that can play a responsible role in the region, that it can impress the United |
| 0:28.0 | States. |
| 0:29.0 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. Iran has threatened to withdraw from a ceasefire with the U.S. |
| 0:46.9 | Tehran says that's because of a wave of Israeli attacks in Lebanon that killed hundreds of people. |
| 0:52.1 | In response, Iran has halted tanker traffic through the |
| 0:54.7 | Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. and Israel said they did not consider the ceasefire to include Lebanon. |
| 1:00.7 | Gulf states also continued to face missile and drone attacks yesterday. Those included a hit on |
| 1:05.5 | Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline that carries oil to the Red Sea. Despite all this, the price of oil fell. Brent crude |
| 1:12.6 | stayed below $100 a barrel. But there is still a lot of uncertainty in oil markets. Here to talk about it is |
| 1:19.2 | the FT's US energy editor, Jamie Smith. Hi, Jamie. Hello, Mark. So yeah, Jamie, how are oil markets |
| 1:25.1 | reacting to all this? Well, certainly, whenever we got the announcement late on Tuesday that there was going to be this two-week ceasefire, oil plunged in value. |
| 1:33.9 | It was down 17, 18 percent, below $100. |
| 1:37.9 | It seemed like it was all good news because traders were thinking this is de-escalation. |
| 1:43.4 | But there's a lot of uncertainty. We've seen |
| 1:46.2 | missiles shot from Iran into their neighbors, and we're not quite sure about what the status of the |
| 1:55.4 | Strait of Hormuz is going to be. And a key thing was to keep it open for traffic for all the Gulf states so that they |
| 2:04.3 | can supply Asia and other parts of the world. But at the moment, we're not sure if there's going to be |
| 2:09.8 | a tolling arrangement, which would mean that every ship passing through that waterway would have to |
... |
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