Oil prices eased on Friday, giving back a sliver of the week’s dramatic run-up, but both benchmarks remain on pace to close the week well above $100 a barrel after geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sent crude surging.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at $105.03 a barrel, down 2.4% on the day, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate moved higher by 2.75% to $99.66, according to CNBC. The pullback followed a blistering rally that saw Brent peak near $108 on Thursday and WTI climb past $104.
Despite Friday’s retreat, Brent was on track for a weekly gain of roughly 9%, setting it up to finish above the critical $100 mark for the first time since mid-May. WTI’s week-to-date advance stood at 8.9%. The daily decline broke a five-session winning streak for Brent and an eight-day run for WTI.
Diplomacy in Oman
The softening came after Iranian state media reported that Tehran would meet with Gulf states in Oman to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reported. The news signaled that some diplomatic channels remain open even after a week of sharp escalation.
The overarching driver, though, is the trajectory of the Iran conflict. Markets are positioning for a potentially drawn-out war, responding to Wall Street Journal reporting that top White House advisors had discussed with President Donald Trump the possibility that the conflict could persist beyond his current term. Trump has said the conflict will conclude after the U.S. midterm elections in November, and that oil and gas prices would subside afterward.
Shipping and Supply Worries
Those political signals have compounded a string of supply-side developments that unsettled traders this week. Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid, in a Friday morning note cited by CNBC, pointed to growing concerns over Red Sea shipping safety after Houthi rebels captured Yemen’s port city of Mokha, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, raising the prospect of knock-on effects for Saudi oil exports. Reid also flagged news that Saudi Arabia’s oil output has dropped to its lowest level since 1990.
The combination has fueled a sharp repricing of crude, which had been trading in a more subdued range for months before this week’s breakout.
Structural or Temporary Deficit?
The central question for investors, according to PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga, is whether the current supply shortfall is structural or transitory. In comments to CNBC, Varga said further price spikes cannot be ruled out and that revisiting April’s peak of $126 remains possible as global and regional inventories continue to draw down. But he cautioned that the higher prices climb, the more demand destruction they invite.
Varga drew a distinction between the present crisis and the one during the first Gulf War in 1990, noting that oil is more elastic today than it was 35 years ago. Renewable energy, he said, is more than capable of replacing certain parts of the barrel, particularly in electricity generation.
It appears only a matter of time before the gap between global oil supply and demand narrows, Varga added — either because supply increases in the event of a truce or because demand falls amid wider adoption of alternative energy sources. In the interim, he said, additional oil price strength is very possible, but it would be surprising to see it last beyond 2026.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/11/oil-price-today-iran-brent-wti-trump.html
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