Oil Prices Surge 3.7% as U.S.-Iran Standoff Triggers Higher 2026 Forecasts

Brent Crude oil prices rose above $89 per barrel in early trade in Europe on Wednesday as Iran and the United States offered contrasting claims about who controls the Strait of Hormuz. Brent Crude prices were up by 0.64% at $89.60 in the morning in Europe, and WTI Crude was rising by 0.94% at $83.90, amid persistent supply concerns and risks despite claims from the U.S. that traffic at Hormuz had normalized. Iran, for its part, said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless...

The IEA has slashed its 2026 global oil supply forecast, with output now expected to plunge 4.3 million barrels per day this year as the failure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz pushes the market deeper into deficit. The latest forecast is considerably worse than the 3.7-million-bpd decline the agency projected just last month and would leave global supply at 102.02 million bpd, its lowest forecast for 2026 yet. Supply is now expected to fall 1.27 million bpd short of demand for the year,...

Oil flows from the Middle East have normalized, with Sunday traffic alone above pre-conflict averages, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Tuesday in a claim that appears not to be backed by ship-tracking data. On Tuesday, Secretary Wright posted on X that “Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the U.S. military and our gulf allies, the seven-day average for oil leaving the Strait of Hormuz is currently up to almost 9 million barrels per day.” He went on to add that “When combined with...

The latest Bloomberg data show that shipping transits through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely disrupted Monday morning, even as Iran and Oman reportedly moved closer to a deal. Brent crude futures traded near $85 a barrel as markets priced in the possibility that a deal to reopen the maritime chokepoint could be imminent. Yet global supply-chain stress remains near its highest level since the pandemic, and any normalization could take months, even if shipping traffic resumes. UBS senior...

Indian state-controlled oil refiners continue to search the market for spot crude supply as term deliveries are constrained by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and its key oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) are looking to buy a combined 6 million barrels of crude oil via spot tenders, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing tender documents it has seen. HPCL is seeking up to 4 million...

(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices have surged on Tuesday, extending the gains from the two previous sessions as the U.S.-Iran stalemate over new demands for compensation for war-related damages continued, diminishing the expectations of an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Hormuz tensions are flaring again as Iranian exports collapse, pushing Brent toward $87 and raising the risk of another run toward $100. China’s Crude Drawdown Puts Iranian Barrels Back in Demand - Shrinking crude inventories in China might spur a buying spree over the upcoming weeks, particularly for Russian and Iranian crude, buoyed by a record-high July stock draw in Shandong.    - Chinese teapots are expected to boost their purchases of Iranian oil in the upcoming days as stockpiles in the...

OPEC’s total oil production jumped by 1.17 million barrels per day in July from June as many Gulf producers restored some output that was shut in for three months due to the closed Strait of Hormuz. Output at the 11-member OPEC rose to 19.85 million bpd in July, extending the monthly increases for the second consecutive month, according to a based on ship-tracking data and information provided by sources at OPEC, oil companies, and consultants. In May, when major Gulf producers...

Libya’s National Oil Corporation may declare force majeure on exports from the Zawya oil terminal as a result of drone attacks on the facility. The Zawya terminal has a daily capacity of 120,000 barrels, sourced from the country’s largest oil field, Sharara, which can produce up to 300,000 barrels daily, Reuters noted in a report on the possibility of a force majeure declaration. According to reports, a drone strike had destroyed a storage tank and another drone had targeted an oil blending...

A drone has struck a power station at the Zawiya oil export terminal in Libya, suggesting continued attacks on one of the country’s main oil hubs. The power plant is in close proximity to the largest oil refinery in Libya, the AP noted in a report on the news. The attack follows earlier ones that caused an explosion at an oil storage tank. No one has claimed responsibility for the drone attacks, the AP also reported.  The tank, according to the company operating the facility, had 4.5 million...

Whatever officially occurs next in the on-again/off-again negotiations towards a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, unofficially Tehran knows that it has established de facto control over both the world’s two key maritime energy transit routes -- the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait -- for at least as long as the Islamic regime remains in place in Iran. Washington, London, Brussels, Beijing, and Moscow know it too. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively controlled by vast...

The Middle East conflict and the heightened threats to shipping in the Red Sea have prompted China to boost the use of the Arctic to move containers from the Chinese east coast to Europe. The fast-melting Arctic ice offers an alternative shipping route in the summer as the Houthi threats to shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait make cargo operators more cautious in transiting the key chokepoints in the Middle East. Shipping through the Arctic is not something new, but this time...