PANews reported on April 1st that, according to Jinshi News, David Miller, the head of enforcement at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated on Tuesday that the agency is monitoring trading in the crude oil futures market for unusual activity. When asked about related trading activities, Miller said, "I cannot comment on what we are investigating or not investigating. I can only say that we are watching it very closely."

According to foreign media reports, around 7:05 AM local time on March 23, US President Trump posted a social media message regarding a delay in the strike against Iran. Shortly before this, crude oil futures trading volume surged. According to exchange data compiled by institutions, within two minutes of 6:49 AM New York time that day, financial contracts related to at least 6 million barrels of Brent and WTI crude oil were sold. In the same period over the previous five trading days, the average trading volume was approximately 700 lots (equivalent to 700,000 barrels).