Overview
- After an intraday spike near $119, Brent is trading above $100 while WTI hovers in the mid‑$90s, and the Brent–WTI gap has widened to its largest level since 2013.
- Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut for about 19 days, disrupting roughly a fifth of global oil flows and intensifying supply risk.
- Goldman Sachs warns prices could remain above $100 into 2027 and could challenge prior records if supply losses persist, even as day‑to‑day moves ease at times.
- U.S. policy steps include a planned release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and a stated refusal to impose oil and gas export curbs; officials also signaled temporary leeway for purchases of stranded Russian crude and floated easing some limits on Iranian oil already at sea.
- Consumers are feeling the strain: Mexico reports Premium gasoline at up to 31.24 pesos/liter and diesel at 33.95, while Spain’s official data show notable station‑to‑station price gaps in places like Mallorca and Córdoba.