Brent crude tops $110 a barrel for first time since May as wars strain energy supply
Brent crude oil reached $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May, lifting U.S. gasoline and diesel prices as the Iran and Ukraine wars keep pressure on global fuel supplies.
NEW YORK — Brent crude oil touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May, as escalating conflicts and attacks on energy infrastructure kept supply concerns at the center of the market.
The global benchmark rose 3.7% and closed at $109.86, its second straight weekly gain. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, climbed 3.5% to close at $101.41, its highest level since Sept. 21, Bloomberg reported.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have continued missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, while Russia and Ukraine have traded attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. Diesel settled at $4.90 a gallon in New York on Friday, and contracts for diesel and gasoline are trading at their highest-ever seasonal levels.
“After a brief reprieve, the oil market is having to price risk back in, particularly heading into the weekend,” Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group, told Bloomberg.
Prices at the pump are climbing for American drivers. Regular gasoline averaged about $4.33 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA, while diesel averaged $6.32, nearly $2.67 more than a year ago. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote Friday on X that “Americans have now spent $135 billion more on gasoline and diesel purchases since March 1 than the same period last year.”
Pressure around the Strait of Hormuz
Traders are watching the Strait of Hormuz, where cargo volumes have recovered to near pre-war levels, topping 100 million barrels of crude last week. The last time prices were this high, almost five months ago, paralyzed crude and fuel flows prompted a fragile agreement that briefly reopened the waterway.
The White House has taken steps to blunt the rally. On Friday, the United States offered up to 17 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Trump has also pursued a deal with Russia to boost diesel exports to world markets, though Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries have raised doubts about whether the agreement will deliver.
Fewer options ahead of the midterms
Crude has climbed more than 75% this year, and European diesel futures have more than doubled. Brent topped $120 a barrel in late April, shortly after the United States and Israel launched the Iran conflict, before falling below $80 in June and July during a ceasefire that both sides later accused the other of violating.
The stubbornly high prices leave Trump with fewer options to lower energy costs ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Bloomberg reported. Eurasia Group analysts raised their odds of further escalation in the Middle East to 65% from 35%, writing in a note that “the standoff status quo is no longer sustainable for the US.”
Reporting based on coverage by Bloomberg and Benzinga.
