Oil prices fell on Thursday after experiencing a strong intraday surge earlier in the session amid ongoing geopolitical concerns.
At the close of trading, the West Texas Intermediate for June delivery dropped 1.81 U.S. dollars, or 1.69 percent, to settle at 105.07 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery lost 4.02 dollars, or 3.41 percent, to settle at 114.01 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
During Thursday's trading session, oil prices surged significantly amid ongoing concerns over stalled negotiations between the United States and Iran. Market remains worried about when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and when the conflict will end.
The June Brent crude futures contract rose more than 6 percent at one point, briefly breaking above 126 U.S. dollars per barrel. This was the first time Brent crude futures had surpassed the 120 U.S. dollars per barrel level since June 17, 2022.
Crude futures settle lower Thursday after Brent briefly hits four year high
A Chinese envoy on Thursday issued a sharp warning over Japan's nuclear ambitions at the United Nations (UN), accusing Japan of challenging international red lines and urging the Japanese government to clarify its stance and abandon re-militarization.
At the UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation on the Korean Peninsula, Xu Feng, counselor for the Disarmament Division at China's Permanent Mission to the UN, confronted Japan's recent actions and rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons.
Citing legally binding documents like the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, Xu stressed that Japan must be fully disarmed and is prohibited from maintaining any capability for rearmament.
"As a non-nuclear-weapon state to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Japan must abide by its international obligations to not accept, not manufacture, not possess, and not proliferate nuclear weapons," said Xu.
The Chinese side expressed grave concern over Japan's technical status as a recognized "nuclear threshold" state, possessing reprocessing technology, operational facilities, and storing plutonium far beyond civilian energy needs, giving Japan the capability for a rapid "nuclear breakout."
Xu highlighted recent disturbing signals in Japan's nuclear policy, noting that in November 2025, the Japanese prime minister publicly questioned whether the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles would be maintained amid security policy revisions. In December, a senior official at the prime minister's office reportedly stated that "Japan should possess nuclear weapons."
Xu pointed out that these remarks reveal an ambition among Japanese right-wing forces to challenge the international order. Japan must give a formal, top-level clarification on its nuclear policy and halt all steps towards re-militarization, he said, adding only then can international concerns be truly addressed.
China warns against Japan's nuclear ambitions at UN Security Council
