A barrel of Brent crude was like—’round 77 bucks last Friday— and folks are buzzing it might just jump another fiver when the clock strikes 11pm UK time on Sunday. YONHAP/EPA caught that one, not me. Just saying.
So, oil prices. They’re ticking upwards right as the trading week kicks off. Why? Apparently, the US decided to go at it with Iran, stirring up the kind of mess that risks turning the Hormuz strait into a no-go zone. All very dramatic, isn’t it?
This whole thing kicked off with Brent crude selling at about $77 on Friday, up more than 10% since mid-June when Israel hit Iran’s nuclear spots, and Tehran went missile crazy over Tel Aviv. Feels like a spy novel, but here we are.
And then Trump goes all in, following Israel’s footsteps with a US Iran strike over the weekend. Oil market analysts—love how they casually speculate—say this move might bump prices another $5 once markets start doing their thing. Big day set for 11pm UK time on Sunday.
Jorge Leon, the head honcho of geopolitical stuff at Rystad, dropped a line. He used to hang with OPEC folks, so he seems to know. He’s like, “Oil prices jump time!” Even without some retaliation, the market’s already sweating over geopolitical tension.
Hopping over, Ole Hvalbye, an SEB analyst, gave his two cents. Brent crude, always the global oil compass, might hike $3 to $5 once markets wake up. Feels like a rollercoaster going up.
JP Morgan?! Yeah, they already shouted, saying oil could rocket to $130 if the Hormuz strait drama grows legs. And Iran—they’ve warned before—they might close the strait if their feathers get ruffled. Vital stretch for a fifth of the world’s oil. Nerve-wracking.
If prices do a leap to $130, we could be reliving the aftermath of Russia doing its dance in Ukraine. But not to get ahead of myself, back in ’08, Brent crude hit a whopping $147.50 just before the global financial pothole. Remember that?
Anyway, on Friday, Brent was chilling at $77.01 a barrel; the US WTI benchmark settled at $73.84. Some analysts are playing it cool like, nah, Iran won’t mess too much with the shipping lanes cause they need to send oil to China through the strait of Hormuz. Kind of funny when you think about it.
So, wild oil price ride on the horizon? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell—or oil, flipping it back and forth, I guess. Who even knows what Monday feels like anymore?
