Brent Crude Rises Above $100 a Barrel as Middle East Conflict Escalates
Published On 09 Sep, 2026
Brent crude futures rose $2.15, or 2.2%, to $100.07 a barrel by 0721 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.70, or 1.83%, at $94.73 a barrel.
Brent crude prices have risen by a quarter since early last month as hopes fade for a permanent resolution to the six-month-old U.S.-Iran conflict.
This week, attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi energy facilities set oil installations ablaze, threatening a significant expansion of the conflict.
The Houthi attacks could threaten crude shipments via the Red Sea, which has been a key alternative route to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where crude flows have been severely curtailed since the February 28 start of the Iran war.
A growing number of banks, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC, have raised their crude price forecasts in recent days.
In the week before a resumption in fighting on August 30, roughly 8 million to 9 million bpd had flowed through Hormuz, double the previous week’s volume, according to Rystad Energy’s Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti, although more recently it had fallen below 2 million bpd.
While non-OPEC oil producers including the United States, Canada and Guyana have ramped up output, the International Energy Agency said last month it expected global oil supply would fall this year by 4.3 million bpd, or about 4%.
