Real-time WTI crude, Brent crude, and natural gas market data
WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil — continuous futures contract. Data provided by TradingView.
Where Brent crude is heading through the rest of 2026: the war-premium round trip, the renewed Hormuz crisis, OPEC+ supply, soft demand, and the Kharg tail risk that could break prices either way.
Brent held around $86 and WTI near $80 on Friday, both up more than 11% on the week, their best since April, as the US-Iran war spread to Iraqi oil infrastructure and a Red Sea threat. Hormuz transit collapsed 62%. The two pivots, a strike on Kharg or a ceasefire, still have not fired.
Brent held near $85 on Thursday, a fourth straight daily gain, even as the US disabled a tanker near Kharg with missiles, bombed Iran for a sixth day, and Iran struck US bases in three Arab states. The one thing that would break the price higher, a hit on Kharg's oil terminal, still has not happened.
Brent hovered around $85 on Wednesday, consolidating after the surge, as the US bombed Iran for a fifth straight day but deliberately avoided Kharg Island's oil facilities. Trump called them a chunk of the world economy. A cooler US inflation print and a weak inventory draw leaned against the war premium.
Brent jumped above $86 and WTI topped $80 on Tuesday, one-month highs and up more than 10% for the week, after Iran hit two UAE tankers in Hormuz, killing a crewman, and Trump reinstated a blockade and demanded a 20% toll on all cargo through the strait. The premium broke higher, but Kharg Island still stands.
When a chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz becomes dangerous, the first cost to jump is not the oil, it is the insurance on the ships that carry it. Here is how marine war-risk premiums work, why they spike, and how they feed through into the price of a barrel.
Roughly 90% of Iran's crude leaves the country through a single island terminal in the northern Persian Gulf. Here is what Kharg Island is, why a strike on it would be a supply shock rather than a transit scare, and why the market watches it above all else.
A geopolitical risk premium is the part of the oil price that reflects feared supply disruption, not actual lost barrels. Here is how it builds, why chokepoints amplify it, and why it collapses faster than it forms when a conflict ends.
The price of oil is one of the most closely watched commodity prices in the world. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil serves as the primary benchmark for U.S. oil pricing, while Brent crude is the international benchmark. Both prices fluctuate continuously based on supply and demand dynamics, OPEC+ production decisions, geopolitical events, and broader macroeconomic conditions.
Use the charts above for live WTI and Brent crude oil prices, or visit our dedicated WTI crude oil page and Brent crude page for in-depth analysis.