Overview
- Brent approached $66 and WTI rose to about $61 after reversing Thursday’s roughly 2% slide, leaving both benchmarks on track for weekly gains.
- Trump told reporters the U.S. has an “armada” moving toward Iran, and a U.S. official said an aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyers are due in the region within days.
- The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on nine vessels and eight companies tied to transporting Iranian oil and petroleum products.
- Supply risk extended beyond Iran as Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field remained shut after a fire, with Chevron saying output had not restarted and JPMorgan estimating a closure through month‑end.
- Fundamental signals stayed cautious with a 3.6 million‑barrel U.S. crude inventory build last week and the IEA trimming its 2026 surplus estimate to 3.7 million barrels per day.