Oil Rises, Bringing Gains to 40% Since the Start of the War

Global oil futures rose 2.7 percent to more than $103 a barrel on Friday, bringing gains since the start of the war to 40 percent amid fears about the economic impact of a sustained blockage of Middle East energy and despite efforts to increase supplies.

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New York Times

Brent crude settled at $103.14 a barrel, the highest since August 2022, up more than 11 percent for the week and more than 40 percent since the war began in late February.

New York Times

West Texas Intermediate closed at $98.71 a barrel.

Data shows future contract prices for Brent crude oil.

Data delayed at least 15 minutes.

Late on Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government had temporarily removed sanctions on Russian oil currently at sea, allowing it to be shipped to buyers around the world.

A day earlier, world leaders had agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves.

New York Times

Before broader waivers on Russian sanctions, the Trump administration last week freed India from some sanctions restricting its purchases of Russian oil.

Oil markets have been on a convulsive path since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with Brent spiking to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday as traders feared long-lasting supply cuts; prices have pulled back since then but remain sharply higher than before the war.

“War in theMiddle East Advertisement Supported by ByThe New York Times Global oil futures rose 2”

New York Times

Investors and analysts across the world are focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world's oil supply.

Shipping traffic exiting the Persian Gulf through the strait has been effectively halted and tankers are stranded because of the risk that vessels could be attacked.

S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent, ending 1.6 percent lower for the week.

The Stoxx 600, a Pan-European index, fell 0.5 percent.

New York Times

Stock markets across Asia fell, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.2 percent and the Kospi index down 1.7 percent.

Gas prices rose on Friday to a national average of $3.63 a gallon, a 22 percent increase since the war began, and diesel prices rose to $4.89 on Friday, up 30 percent since the start of the war.

The article notes that gas prices don't move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days.