Worldwide petroleum costs have fallen significantly and equity markets have surged following renewed optimism that a US-Iran peace accord could resolve the most severe energy supply disruption ever seen in the sector.

Brent crude values declined 4 percent to under $84 (£62) per barrel at the start of trading across Asia-Pacific centers, driven by expectations that the strait of Hormuz may soon reopen and restore Gulf petroleum shipments.

Trump stated on Sunday that an agreement was now finalized, even after recent Israeli strikes on Beirut that risked derailing the delicate discussions.

The US president posted on social media: “I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”

Sixty minutes later he added that the waterway would reopen once the peace pact is finalized on Friday and that “for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!”

Several aspects of the pact remain vague, especially the precise schedule for reopening the sea route, oversight of safe transit and any attached conditions. Iranian officials indicated a 60-day period for final negotiations on broader topics including Tehran’s nuclear activities and sanctions easing.

The key global oil benchmark extended Friday’s declines to just over $83 a barrel, its lowest level since the conflict’s early phase on 10 March. Brent stood just under $73 when fighting began in late February.

Prices started sliding late last week from $93 a barrel on Thursday to finish at $87.50 on Friday after Trump signaled he was near a deal with Tehran to lift the regime’s effective grip on the vital shipping lane.

Equity markets advanced on Monday. In Europe the UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.8 percent while the French Cac 40 and German Dax each rose 1.8 percent. Shares of energy firms including BP and Shell eased in early trading.

Across Asia, a region reliant on petroleum imports, Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi each climbed 5 percent while China’s CSI300 index advanced 1.9 percent.

The US president also asserted that American forces had covertly facilitated the movement of millions of barrels daily through the strait in recent weeks to ease global market strain.

Oil prices stayed below forecasts throughout the Iran conflict, which halted Gulf exports via the strait in early March and removed 20m barrels per day from supply, or one-fifth of total market volumes.

Gulf producers rerouted roughly 5m barrels daily via pipelines to other regional terminals, while an additional 2m barrels per day may have reached buyers recently with US military assistance through undetected tankers that transfer cargoes to vessels in the Gulf of Oman before returning.

Nevertheless numerous vessels remain trapped in the strait of Hormuz. The Japanese Shipowners’ Association reported on Monday that 38 Japan-linked ships are still stranded in the passage.

A spokesperson for the group said members would “wait a little longer for more concrete information” on the US-Iran peace deal expected by 19 June when the accord is scheduled for signing in Switzerland.

Separately, members of the International Energy Agency have released record volumes of emergency crude and fuel at a pace of roughly 2.5m barrels daily.

The global supply gap has narrowed further through reduced demand: China is believed to have trimmed imports by about 4m barrels per day to levels unseen in a decade, possibly by drawing down record inventories and pausing its prior aggressive stockpiling.

Worldwide demand may have fallen 3m to 4m barrels daily as petrochemical plants across Asia scaled back operations amid the crisis.

Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, noted on Monday that nations would use any reopening to rebuild depleted stocks and refill strategic reserves.

He observed that talks remain intricate, especially on nuclear matters, and that it is therefore “hard to see crude falling much further from here in the near term”.