This was another week where hope appeared on Monday, reality set back in by Friday. Oil is trading near $104 a barrel as I write this after Trump announced overnight that the United States doesn’t need the Strait of Hormuz open. The comment sent prices up more than 2% to start the day.
What a week. Oil opened Monday near $105 a barrel on fears the US had been attacked in the strait, collapsed nearly 10 percent by Wednesday on peace talk hopes, and is finishing the week around $94 as fighting continues despite an active ceasefire.
What a week. Oil touched its highest price in four years on Thursday when WTI briefly spiked to $112 a barrel on fears the United States was preparing a new military strike against Iran, only to pull back sharply today after Iran sent a fresh peace proposal to Pakistani mediators.
It was a roller coaster week in oil markets, and it ended on an unexpected note of hope. A source in Pakistan said Iran’s top diplomat was expected to arrive in Islamabad Friday night for peace talks with the United States, and that single piece of news was enough to calm a market that had been beaten up all week by bad headlines.
What a week. Crude oil markets went from bracing for military strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, to celebrating a two-week ceasefire, and then right back to worrying about whether the deal will hold. After one of the most dramatic weeks in energy market history, WTI crude is heading into the weekend near $98 per barrel.
Energy markets experienced another historic week as the war in Iran continued to escalate with no clear path toward resolution. Crude oil prices surged throughout the week, with WTI pushing well above $100/barrel and Brent trading above $140/barrel on the physical spot market by Thursday — even though paper Brent held around $110/barrel.
Crude oil markets ended the week in a position that may come as a surprise to those who have been watching the steady rally since the war began. Oil prices rose on Friday but are on track to end flat for the first time since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran started. The reason came as President Trump extended his pause on strikes against Iran’s energy plants, giving markets a brief window of hope that a deal might take shape. Even so, crude prices remain well above normal levels.
I am writing my weekly update one day early as I will be out of town tomorrow. Considering the current volatility of the crude oil markets at the moment, by end of day tomorrow, the following update could already be out of date! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
Energy markets experienced historic volatility again this week as the war with Iran continues to dominate global oil trade. Prices briefly surged above $115 per barrel early in the week before swinging wildly in both directions as traders reacted to military developments, production shutdowns, and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Even after massive swings during the week, crude oil now looks set to close near $100 per barrel, marking another strong weekly gain.
Crude oil markets experienced one of the most volatile weeks in years, with prices set to book their largest weekly increase since 2020. The surge was triggered by a dramatic escalation in the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched strikes inside Iran over the weekend that killed the head of Iran’s ruling leadership.
