One Turn
Brent crude briefly passes $117 on fears of renewed Iran strikes
Brent crude rose about 3.5% on Friday to pass $117 a barrel at one point, its highest since April, after Tehran threatened retaliation against Gulf refineries and data centers if attacked. Physical Middle East crude grades softened as oil continued flowing through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it had looked into a large burst of oil futures selling in March shortly before Trump backed away from threats to strike Iranian power plants.
Why it matters
Higher crude prices feed into fuel, transport and airfare costs for consumers and businesses worldwide.
Background
Brent is the main international oil benchmark. The war involving Iran has disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for Gulf oil exports.
The story so far
- Iraq's October oil exports near pre-war levels at 3.4m barrels a day
- Brent crude tops $113, highest level since May
- Brent crude briefly passes $117 on fears of renewed Iran strikes
- US says it helped Gulf states ship 1.5 billion barrels through Hormuz
- Oil stays above $100; diesel tight
- Oil swings on Iran news; Brent above $104
- Oil falls for the week on hopes of US-Iran deal
- Iraq says it can export oil through Hormuz
- UAE oil exports back to pre-war levels via Fujairah
Sources
- The Guardian ↗Oct 23, 12:48 PM ET
- OilPrice ↗Oct 23, 11:30 AM ET
- OilPrice ↗Oct 23, 1:20 PM ET
This summary was written automatically from the reporting linked above; follow the sources for the full story. How One Turn works.