ECB President LAGARDE said a larger or more persistent rise in energy prices would push inflation higher.

DOE is soliciting proposals for swaps of up to 40 mln barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites Bryan Mound and Big Hill.

President Trump said on the 10th the US military secretly assisted more than 200 merchant vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, enabling over 100 million barrels of oil to enter the open market. He said he ordered the mission last month and asserted control of the strait rests with the US, not Iran. A US effort launched in early May to escort trapped ships, described as a "freedom plan," was later suspended. US media reported the pause followed Gulf allies' objections and Saudi refusal to allow US use of Saudi bases and airspace after the mission was not coordinated. The New York Times cited anonymous US officials saying US forces quietly guided about 70 ships through the strait in the prior three weeks.